MU BYONNA
by Talthecap
Summary: Tenten disappeared for two weeks; to where, no one knew. she is found and no one could believe what happened. will the resultant frustration and anger be too much for Neji to bear? nejiten, naruhina, sasusaku and more
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** alright, this is to explain the origin of the title and its meaning. "**Mu Byonna**" is actually from an African dialect am not so fluent in, but it means "**In All Things**." Since I hate it when I read OOC fan fiction, I tried to make the characters as close to the ones we know as possible. However, not everyone was meant for writing, so if I don't live up to this standard, forgive me.

The title of the story actually flows with the respective chapter titles, i.e., this chapter is entitled '…even in loss' so the whole idea is to read it as "In All Things…even in loss." This is my first multi-chapter story and I hope you like it; so without further ado, I give you…Mu Byonna

**Disclaimer: **are you kidding; of course I don't own Naruto!

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 1_

…**even in loss.**

The birds were chirruping, the leaves were rustling in the breeze and even the sun seemed to shine brighter than usual; it was a perfectly normal day-or so it seemed.

BOOM!

A sudden explosion broke the calm of the forest. The birds frantically flew off in all directions, the leaves were blasted into smithereens and the rays of the sun were blocked out by the swiftly rising cloud of dust.

Neji was the first to stumble from the cloud; eyes surrounded with chakra engorged vessels but yet squinting. He staggered a few steps forward, clutching his chest and collapsed to the ground gasping for air. Forcing himself to sit up despite the injuries he bore, Neji forced the last of his chakra out to activate his byakugan. Barely seeing beyond 2 meters, he nevertheless tried to expand his field of vision.

When he saw Gai-sensei stumbling out of the cloud carrying an unconscious Lee on his back, Neji let out an involuntary sigh. He squinted in an effort to push more chakra into his eyes. He was pushing it, he knew, but this was vital. Unfortunately, there's only so much that the human body can take and without any warning, his byakugan suddenly deactivated.

Neji's eyes widened, silver orbs uncommonly showing emotion. He was dismayed, having failed her when she needed him the most. Gasping as a wave of pain washed over him, he collapsed back to the ground.

"Tenten…" he groaned before darkness swallowed him

Yes, it had seemed like a perfect day-until his heart was ripped out.

XXXXXX

* * *

A porcelain cat face smiled down upon the destruction before it. This was surreal considering the face behind the mask was quite grim. Having seen a suspicious burst of light come from the forest on his patrol, the ANBU operative behind the cat mask had gathered a small team and set off to check it out. Now, as he looked upon the unconscious bodies before him, he couldn't help the shiver that ran down his back. His face wore a troubled look but the mask hid it well, there was no point in letting the others see his unease.

"Ox, Falcon, we're carrying these three back. Wolf, go back to the village, Hokage-sama must know about this as soon as possible."

All 3 shinobi nodded once and set about their tasks. Hoisting the Hyuuga onto his back, the ANBU operative shook his head. He never expected to see three seriously injured bodies of Leaf shinobi when he rushed to investigate the strange light.

As he shot of in the direction of the village, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was not right.

XXXXXX

* * *

Tsunade sank into the chair with a sigh as she pondered the day's events. The ANBU with the wolf mask had appeared in her office, and in a controlled voice informed her of the unconscious members of Team Gai found during an evening patrol. The elite shinobi did not have much to relay, as information about how the 3 ended up in that state would have to be gotten after they woke up.

But that was just it, according to the ANBU unit, only 3 individuals were found and no sign of a fourth person could be unearthed. Tsunade frowned as she contemplated this; Tenten had been with the team when they set off 2 days back, but now she couldn't be found and signs of a struggle were surprisingly missing as well. Only footsteps of the males in Team Gai could be seen in the crater resulting from the blast. The only conclusions that could be made at that point were: the kunoichi was carried off, or she had left on her own. Either way, whatever happened did so before the explosion occurred.

The damage to the other 3 members was not fatal and most of it was repaired. Even with the chakra exhaustion, they would all be conscious within a day or 2 at most but that was small consolation in comparison to the puzzle at hand.

"I hate Mondays" Tsunade groaned as she drank from a bottle of _sake_-her first of many for the night.

She turned to face the village from her office in the Hokage tower and blinked at what she saw. Raindrops were hitting the glass pane with increasing frequency and from the looks of things; it seemed this was going to last for a while.

"This is going to cause problems" Tsunade muttered as she reached for another bottle of _sake_.

Indeed, there was a _good _reason why she hated Mondays.

XXXXXX

* * *

_The wind was blowing rather harshly and there were dark clouds looming in the distance._

"_It's going to be quite a storm." Tenten observed._

"_Correct! We must find a place to shelter us from the harsh elements of weather before they taint our youth," the green clad man next to her replied._

"_Yosh! I will strive to find us a shelter in 30 seconds and if I can't, I will run 100 laps around this forest facing Mother Nature's darker side!" Lee enthusiastically offered._

"_That won't be necessary Lee." Tenten said with a sigh. "You don't have to push yourself so far. I'm sure Neji can find us a shelter in less time, right Neji?"_

"_Hn" the genius scoffed but nevertheless activated his byakugan._

_Neji blocked out the protests of his strange teammate and proceeded to search for areas to shelter them from the threatening storm. They were close to the Leaf Village but could not get there before the storm hit them. While scanning the surrounding vicinity, he noticed something odd. There suddenly seemed to be too many bushes around them and on looking at them, he noticed they hid similar devices. He had never seen these before and turned around to inform his teammates, hoping it wasn't already too late._

_His hopes were dashed as he seemed to watch in slow motion while Lee accidentally fell over a bush. Neji tried to run towards his friends but he couldn't reach them fast enough. Everything was horribly slow. _

"_Tenten!" He called out._

_She turned to look at him with a confused expression on her face; she didn't realize the danger she was in. Neji watched in horror as her expression turned to fear before a sudden flash of light blinded him and a powerful force blasted him backwards._

"_Neji!" a panicked voice called out to him. "NEJI!"_

_A piercing scream suddenly filled the air._

"_Tenten!" he yelled. Heart pounding in his ear, the man tried to find which direction the voice was coming from. He squinted in an effort to see through the dust as he tried to stand up but failed. _

"_Neji! I need you!" This time the voice was more strained, as if she was crying. "Neji!"_

_Panic was rising up in his chest but he pushed it down; he needed to stay focused. Suddenly the dust cleared a bit and his heart sank when he saw Tenten. Struggling to his feet yet again, he stumbled over to her and fell to his knees as he took in the sight before him._

_She was covered in dust and two of her limbs were bent at odd angles. There were slashes on her legs and a deep gash in her abdomen. Tears streamed down her face as she looked up, her gaze somewhat dazed. How could this have happened?_

_He reached out to her but her blood was everywhere and it soon covered his hands. It was rushing out at an alarming rate as if it couldn't wait to soak him._

"_Tenten…"_

"_You lied to me." Neji froze at her whispered words. "You lied…you said you'd p-protect me. I needed you. I called your name…"_

_Neji felt like thousands of senbon were piercing his heart. He sharply sucked in a breath when her gaze focused on him._

"_You didn't come. When I needed you most…you lied. _

_These last words, though barely audible rang in his ears over and over again and they sliced through his heart deeper than any blade could. He tried to call out to her, to tell her what he truly felt, but his voice would not come out. She was giving up too soon, there was still time, she was not going to die, but nothing came out. He was failing her again; when she needed comfort, he couldn't provide it._

_Neji was stupefied, was he really this inept? He tried to hold her, not giving up without a fight, but all that he felt was her blood. It was everywhere, covering the forest, his clothes, his vision…_

"_Tenten!" he tried to call out as he saw her vision become unfocused. She focused on him again and whispered a few words…words that sent his mind spinning with the rejection he felt. She had said them in a matter-of-fact way, as if she believed them wholly. This realization made him feel hollow inside, like all his organs had disappeared leaving darkness in their place. Just 3 words…_

"_It's your fault…"_

Neji's eyes shot open. A white light blinded him, sending shock waves through his optical nerves and consequently increasing the pounding in his head. He closed them suddenly and let out a breath in an effort to soothe the headache and suppress the adrenalin pumping in his veins. The pain, though unwanted, was slowly taking his attention away from the horrible dream he'd woken from.

"Nii-san?" a soft voice called out to him.

He slowly opened his eyes in an effort to allow them to get accustomed to the light as he tried to get the nightmare out of his head by studying his surroundings. Glancing painfully around the unfamiliar room, Neji deduced he was in a hospital judging from the pristine white walls, lack of furniture except for his bed and a chair and not to mention the i.v. in his arm. There was a figure seated in said chair and Neji squinted as he tried to focus on the person; he tried to sit up when he realized who it was.

"You shouldn't push yourself Neji nii-san" the voice said as a hand on his shoulder and another on his back tried to gently push him back down. "You have only just woken up."

'Hinata-sama' Neji said-or at least tried to. All that came out was a low moan. He blinked in surprise, but relaxed when he remembered that due to lack of constant lubrication in his throat, it was dry and so he couldn't speak effectively.

He licked his lips when he heard water being poured and was relieved to see Hinata hand him a glass filled with the liquid seconds later. Neji reached out for the glass and took small sips, remembering to slowly ease his parched throat into the process.

Hinata took the glass when he was done and asked how he was feeling. She had changed a lot over the years and though the woman standing before him resembled the shy, naïve 12 yr old many remembered, it was only in the physical.

Despite the change, she had not lost the tenderness of heart that made her care and concern for others' wellbeing second nature. Hinata had, however, gained a lot of confidence in herself and her abilities (which were nothing to laugh about by the way) that, at age 20, she was a strong and capable kunoichi; one that many shinobi - Neji included - would be proud to fight alongside.

"Hinata-sama, how long have I been unconscious?"

Hinata stiffened; Neji was a practical individual so it was not surprising he had asked that particular question first. Though that being said, he still was not going to like the answer.

"A-ano, Neji nii-san…it has b-been a while…"

Neji frowned at the slight stutter. Hinata had long since gotten rid of the speech impediment, but it returned once in a while when she was under pressure or when she bumped into Naruto inadvertently.

"How long?" he pushed

Hinata sighed in resignation and gave the answer. "3 days."

Neji's eyes widened; he was too tired to try and shutter his expressions as usual.

_3 days? _

A lot could have transpired in that amount of time. What about…

"Gai-sensei and Lee-san are alright," Hinata replied as if reading his thoughts. "B-but Tenten-san…"

Neji stiffened at the telltale stutter again, his heart sinking. He turned to her, commanding and yet pleading at the same time with his eyes, for her to continue.

Hinata looked down; she didn't want to see his reaction when she told him the facts – the look of distress on his face was painful enough to look at. This was news that would trouble him further, but Hinata knew she would have insisted on knowing if it were her in that position, and so she told him.

"Tenten-san's body could not be found. We…my team and I tried to search, b-but it had rained…her scent was washed away. Both Kiba-kun and Shino-kun could not find any trail to follow…"

Neji's chest became tighter and tighter with each sentence Hinata made until it was hard for him to breathe; her voice fading into the background. His nightmare had been grossly twisted but it now felt chillingly real; he had failed her when she needed him the most. Unable to contain himself any longer, he interrupted Hinata's apologies.

"Hinata-sama, arigato but…may I have a moment alone?" Neji asked softly.

Hinata was sharp enough to know that though the dismissal was phrased as a question, it was no less than a command. She wanted to stay and give her cousin some support, but she could not do so without making him feel extremely uncomfortable. He had the right to demand privacy as he thought things through but…but nevertheless, it hurt to be sent away so abruptly.

She stood up and opened the door, but paused for a moment.

"Ano, nii-san. You should know she would never blame you for this." Hinata said before she closed the door.

Neji visibly flinched at Hinata's words. He really wanted to believe them but…

"What if you're wrong?" he asked the empty room.

XXXXXX

* * *

Nara Shikamaru was not what one would call 'an involved ninja;' far from it, he loved nothing better than to lie back, watch the clouds and wander in his own thoughts. He lacked the constant enthusiasm of ninja like Uzumaki Naruto or the cold arrogance of genii like Uchiha Sasuke or Hyuuga Neji; rather, he preferred to calmly calculate chances of success and would get involved in a fight only when he deemed it worth the trouble. This was not to say that he didn't get his fair share of action, or trouble. One could hardly say that getting caught between a strong headed Yamanaka heiress and an equally determined Sand princess was peaceful.

Sighing, Shikamaru closed his eyes in a futile attempt to clear his head. There was only one kunoichi on his mind and she was not blonde. The circumstances under which Tenten disappeared were troubling, and worse was the fact that not even a single hint of her whereabouts had turned up even after two weeks.

Any traces of the woman were long gone and along with them went any hope of finding her. After the initial shock that a ninja could disappear so suddenly with no clue as to what had happened many of the shinobi had settled back into their daily routines, leaving the Hokage to deal with the challenge of finding her. Of course, Neji had demanded that he lead the search parties, but the Hokage had refused, saying that it would be a waste of his abilities; after all, he was an ANBU captain. It went without saying though, that the Hyuuga was too personally involved in the matter and this would cloud any judgment he made – however, how personally involved he was, was anybody's guess.

Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk at this thought. Though he really didn't know Neji at a personal level (who did anyway), he could tell that over the years, the Hyuuga had grown extremely close to Tenten and Shikamaru had no doubt that the two were romantically involved. It could all be seen in the way Tenten would suddenly glow when she saw Neji, or how they had carefully avoided standing close to each other in public and even in the way Neji had glared at any male who happened to look at Tenten for longer than necessary – even 8 years later, that glare still had its power.

The two had hidden it well, but Shikamaru was not called a genius for nothing. That being said, he envied the Hyuuga somewhat; after all, Neji had managed to hold a stable relationship even though he had hundreds of fan-girls fighting over him.

All this taken into account explained the state the Hyuuga was in. Neji walked around with the sense of a man who was clinging onto his work for sanity. He had refused to listen to anyone's advice or consolations; even going so far as to ignore the Hokage's demands that he take a few days off to rest. The 21 year old man had somehow managed to get his work done while effectively and efficiently staying out of public sight. No one had seen him in several days.

A frown crossed the Nara's face when he thought about this deeper. It was strange that Neji had not forced his way out of the village to search for the bun-haired kunoichi. Shikamaru had no doubt that the two had been more than friends and judging from what he had seen, the Hyuuga's emotions – though rarely shown – were intense; ranging from his hatred to his loyalty. So it didn't make any sense.

What puzzled him more was that the attack on Team Gai was seemingly random. It was odd that they had been attacked in the Land of Fire, more so, half a day away from the Leaf Village. ANBU officials regularly patrolled the area, so it was unlikely that they would have missed an enemy or a non-Leaf ninja. This left only one other scenario, the attack was not from an enemy, it came from within the Leaf Village and the culprit knew exactly who it was they wanted and where they'd be. This sent a chill down the shadow user's back. If the perpetrator had planned all this, the Leaf Village was in deep trouble.

Shikamaru opened his eyes but frowned at what he saw – there were no clouds in the sky.

"Troublesome," he muttered as he sat up and contemplated sharing his suspicions with the temperamental Hokage. Even though he had thought the matter through and through, he still couldn't help but feel that he was missing something.

XXXXXX

* * *

The training grounds enclosed in Konoha's forests were the most peaceful, but this did not help the Hyuuga prodigy who was seated beneath a tree in a meditating position. How could the world exude such a sense of peace when he felt like ripping out his heart to stop the aching there? That, coupled with the emptiness his entire being was floating in, served to put him in the foul mood he was in.

Unsuccessfully trying to keep himself from frowning, he pondered on the past events. Neji had never before experienced trouble with keeping his emotions hidden, but the past couple of weeks had given him enough experience in the matter. The explosion had muddled Tenten's scent with various other burning odors and as if that was not enough, the heavy rainfall a few hours later had washed away any traces left of his teammate's innate smell.

Neji had talked to the Hokage, trying to convince her that he should lead a team to carry out a search for the kunoichi, but she had refused, telling him that he was needed elsewhere and should take a few days off to allow his body to rest.

Of course, Neji knew that she had meant he was too closely involved with the case and should try to gather his emotions before he did anything else. He had stormed out of her office with cold fury and gone back to the Hyuuga compound with the intention to leave the village in search of Tenten that very night. He knew the consequences of leaving the village without permission, but his anger, hurt and guilt egged him on. He didn't care anymore! That night, he had set out for the village gates and would have gone ahead with his plan if someone hadn't suddenly pounced on him, pinning him to the ground.

Neji had gotten over his surprise at the action soon enough and engaged in a tussle with his assailant. The fight was brief and somewhere along the way, he had discovered it was Lee who had ambushed him. Furious, he had demanded to know his teammate's reasons for the action and Lee, true to his nature, had replied that the genius was unnecessarily attempting to taint his youth and should rethink his actions.

This had done nothing to help Neji's mood and so he had attempted to walk away but Lee stopped him yet again, this time with a fist to the stomach. Neji was enraged, both at Lee and at himself for not seeing the blow coming. They engaged in another tussle and in an attempt to get the youth-obsessed man off him, Neji told Lee it was his fault that Tenten was missing and if he wasn't so stupid and uncoordinated, then the explosion would not have happened and Tenten would have been around.

This had had the desired effect and Lee had stopped in his tracks, staring at Neji in confusion and hurt. However, Neji had not felt appeased in the least; rather, he felt even guiltier and so, in a cruel attempt to transfer his guilt, Neji had driven the knife deeper, telling Lee that by trying to stop him, the green clad man was in fact betraying Tenten.

Neji stood up and tried to shake the memories from his head. It had ended when Lee snapped out of his shock and told Neji he knew what it felt like, but that leaving the village was not the way to fix it. At this point, the cruelty of his words had finally hit Neji and when the Tai-jutsu specialist had left, Neji went back to the Hyuuga compound and resolved to take another approach to the situation.

This was not to say that his plan-B was ingenious. Rather, the Byakugan user had engulfed himself in his work and in his free time, tried to avoid everyone he knew. So it was rather annoying when he felt a familiar chakra signature heading his way at an alarming speed.

"Neji!" a voice rang.

The Hyuuga turned to face the person and was greeted with a rather grim-looking Naruto. This was odd; everyone knew the whiskered ninja was constantly jolly.

"What?" Neji demanded.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this; the man had never been one for too many words, but a simple hello wasn't too much to ask for, was it? Shrugging it off, Naruto stated the news he bore, knowing it would relieve the Hyuuga.

"Tenten-Chan has been found. I don't know much, but Tsunade Baa-Chan is tending to her. I thought you should know."

Neji blinked. The Kyuubi vessel had long stopped the incessant yelling he had been prone to, but it somehow felt like the words had been shouted into his ear. Snapping out of his shock, he narrowed his eyes and replied.

"Uzumaki, you had better not be lying."

Naruto just flashed him a grin– oblivious to the use of his surname – and shot off into the woods.

Neji blinked again. His mind was suddenly blank. _It was true?_

He disappeared into the forest as well, only one word occupying his mind.

"Tenten…" he whispered.

XXXXXX

* * *

**A/N: **Aannd scene! Well this is the first of a series of chapters. Let me know what you think. Hope I can please the readers out there. Oh, this is my first shot at a multi-chapter story, so please **review**, it doesn't take much you know (^_^)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** sorry I took so long to update but it's kinda hard to write anything when you have pharmacology, pathology and microbiology exams just around the corner. *sigh* seriously, med-school can be brutal. *sigh* again. Anyway, here's the second chapter. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, but if anyone knows how I can…step into my office.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 2_

…**even in grief.**

Tsunade stared at the scene before her. It was only years of medical experience that kept her from gasping out loud. One look at the limp body before her and images of the torment the girl might have endured flipped through her mind. The blond Godaime sighed as she took in the damage; seriously, she was getting too old for this. Both Tenten's arms had been broken and there were slashes here and there on the skin that could be seen through her ripped clothing. Her hair was disheveled and looked like it had been cut, though no one could really tell how long it had been before – it was always tightly wound in buns. It had been 2 weeks since Tenten disappeared and most had lost any hope of ever finding the weapons' mistress, so the fact that she was lying before her almost made Tsunade start believing in miracles. This was unheard of; the chances of finding a missing individual - ninja or not – drastically reduced after 3 days.

The Hokage had been in her office when an ANBU appeared. She was used to ninja transporting in and out of the room with small 'poofs' of smoke to accompany them, so she hadn't flinched at the elite ninja's arrival. His news however had caused her to choke on the _sake_ she had just sipped from her hidden stash; it had been troubling news indeed. She had called for Shizune and began issuing orders to the ANBU in her office. It was rare, but not unheard of, for a ninja to disappear before ANBU without a trace, but for the _same_ ninja to reappear before them still without any clue from where she had been was implausible. This was definitely more than it had seemed.

Gently examining her body to assess the rest of the damage, Tsunade turned Tenten's head and sharply inhaled at what she saw. There were teeth marks deeply ingrained in the kunoichi's neck and dry blood surrounded each mark. The blond Hokage felt anger stir deep within her; what kind of bastard bit a female so hard they bled? Gritting her teeth, Tsunade continued her study. Everything seemed normal…but… what was _this_? No, it couldn't be; no one was sick enough to do this! But Tsunade knew better, there were people in the world that didn't deserve to be called human. Straightening sharply, she swiveled around and ordered everyone out of the room, Shizune included.

Those on the receiving end of this command were puzzled and so they did the wisest thing they could do – they scurried off like cockroaches. These people were not fool enough to argue with an almost growling, furious looking ninja – especially when said ninja could knock your teeth out with one flick of her finger.

Tsunade smirked as they dashed off, but this was quick to fade as she considered the task at hand. She had to work fast and cover up any visible traces of what the girl had gone through. Tenten was a kunoichi and that meant she had to recover and move on in the blink of an eye, but as Tsunade worked, she couldn't help but feel pity for the young woman. No matter how strong-willed she was, this was most definitely a snag she couldn't get through with determination alone.

XXXXXX

* * *

A strangled scream rang out and Hinata winced as she tried to calm the woman down. There were several medical personnel who could take care of the situation, but the pale-eyed kunoichi needed the distraction. She would always be left with a sense of hope and wonder after helping with the birth of a child, but this time, she found it hard to concentrate on the task at hand. When the baby came out, she took all the necessary procedures and handed the child to an exhausted yet beaming mother.

"Congratulations ma'am" she said. "It's a girl."

Hinata gave a weak smile to the young mother and left the room, noting with relief that the corridor was empty. She leaned against the wall and took deep steady breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. The thoughts racing through her head were far from pleasant and she had to maintain her "game-face" if she was to get through the day. But the memories of the morning were still fresh in her mind.

She had been out in the forest surrounding Konoha, testing the accuracy of her byakugan with an ancient Hyuuga method. Having begun with a fair distance of 50 meters, she had slowly extended the range, counting all the birds she could detect within the area. This was not her favorite way of improving her byakugan, but Neji nii-san had suggested it and so Hinata had used the method as often as she could.

It was at that moment, however, that Hinata had detected a familiar but weak chakra pulse. It could have been anything or anyone, but she had focused in on it nevertheless and noticed the chakra flow was sluggish. This had alarmed her because, even though she had seen slow chakra flows in sleeping or tired patients, such a weak pulse coupled with listless movement was indicative of severe injury. Furthermore, the body was slumped against a tree and the person was not moving. Hinata had ran toward the body and let out a shocked gasp when she recognized Tenten.

The state of Tenten's body had left the Hyuuga heiress horrified to say the least. Hinata had been on the verge of panicking at the sight but had quickly collected herself and informed the ANBU patrolling the area.

Now that she had recovered from the shock, she couldn't stop the blaming thoughts that ripped at her heart. How could she not have noticed her chakra earlier? If someone had placed Tenten-san's body there, how could she not have noticed _their_ chakra? Even now, after she had worked so hard, was she still _that_ incompetent…?

Hinata shook her head in an attempt to get the memory out, but it remained stuck.

She was jarred out of her thoughts at the sound approaching footsteps. She turned her head, frowning slightly at the intrusion, only to flush at the sight of whom she saw.

"N-Naruto-kun" she stuttered out.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" He called out with a grin.

At this, Hinata felt a smile tug at her lips but it faded when she saw her cousin behind Naruto looking as poker-faced as ever. Being a Hyuuga, however, she could tell the emotional turmoil the older shinobi was going through. This came as a surprise though, for Neji to allow even a sliver of emotions to slip through his usual façade was staggering. The man was so good at remaining unfazed that one could almost think he had no facial nerves – at least those needed for expressions.

"Nii-san" she said, wanting to offer her comfort again, still feeling a need to reach out to him, but knowing he preferred to be left alone at such confusing times.

As Neji's gaze settled on Hinata, his features softened –though only slightly – and she almost let out a sigh in relief.

"Hinata-sama," he replied in acknowledgement, though his tone was slightly puzzled, as if asking what she was doing there.

Hinata was about to explain but Naruto beat her to it.

"Hinata-chan was the one who found Tenten-chan in the forest. She really is amazing isn't she Neji?" the blond exclaimed as he slapped the Hyuuga genius on the back.

Hinata's flush deepened at the compliment – Naruto-kun was so considerate. She was about to mumble out a thanks, her self-doubts forgotten, when she was cut off again.

"And Tenten-chan is amazing too. A stick in the mud like you really doesn't deserve such a gorgeous and efficient kunoichi!"

Then again, the whiskered blond had never been very tactical.

Both Hyuuga turned to stare at the blond. Hinata in shock at what he had just said – especially in front of Neji nii-san, and Neji…well his look could hardly be termed so, it was more of a piercing glare than anything else. He was shocked the blond had figured out his relationship with Tenten – who knew Naruto was so observant – but he was angered by the knuckle-headed ninja's last sentence.

Neji clenched his fists in an attempt to stop them from swinging out and socking Naruto in the jaw – seriously, he was _not_ in a good mood! Rather, he settled for a scathing comment and was about to bite it out when a nearby door opened, revealing the Godaime Hokage.

XXXXXX

* * *

Hyuuga Neji was many things; one thing he had never been though, was patient. Sure, he had trained year after year to become stronger and that could not be done without patience, but all that loses significance when one sees that he had done all this so that he could one day rub his success in the Main-family's faces.

So it was with great awe – and a little sadness – that Maito Gai had watched his former student try to keep the embers of his 'Fire of Youth' from dying out as he watched Tenten remain comatose day after day. Hyuuga Neji, being an ANBU captain, spent most of his days undertaking and directing missions most shinobi could only think of, but he somehow managed to set aside time to visit his former teammate. Every day he found she had not yet woken, he would go and bury himself in his work the next day, only to return to her bedside in the evening. It was a vicious cycle and was damaging him considerably. This could not be allowed to continue.

It had been with immense pride that Gai had watched his beloved students move from chuunin to jounin in a matter of years, with Neji in the lead. He had cried tears of joy and since they would not be Team-Gai anymore, he had offered to teach them an upgraded version of his Sunset-jutsu as a parting gift…but only one student was eager to learn it. They would undertake missions together from time to time – like they had with the last one – but none of them had ever ended in such a manner.

"Yosh! Gai-sensei, I am ready to brighten my youth with your mighty words of wisdom!"

Gai turned and gave his protégé his customary 'good-guy' pose.

"I am proud of you Lee! Your Fire of Youth burns as brilliantly as ever!"

"Gai-sensei!" the younger jounin cried out in awe.

"Lee!" Gai replied.

Normally, this could have gone on for an extra two minutes, but Gai had other things in mind. Most people thought that the man was as idiotic as he looked, but he knew a thing or two about life and was only a _little_ silly – or so he thought. It was with this attitude that he tirelessly sparred with Lee until the younger jounin was exhausted, so he could question him about his strange attitude.

You see, Maito Gai was no fool and had noticed within seconds that his former student's usual fire was burning rather low. He had tried to encourage him with words, but the boy's spirit only went downhill from there. So Gai was forced to try what he called the 'subtle approach' to try and get the boy to talk.

"Lee, you look as pale as an onion, what's gotten you down? You know you can trust me!" Gai cried, mortified that his student still hadn't told him what was wrong.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee replied, looking at his former teacher in surprise.

"You see Lee, I can tell that your youth is tainted with worry. Now tell your old teacher what it is!" Gai said, somehow managing to mix gentleness in his rather loud speech.

"Gai-sensei, you're truly as insightful as ever!" the younger male cried.

Lee's facial expression became comically confused and he began to narrate to his 'beloved sensei' his woes – complete with actions.

Gai listened with a serious expression as his protégé spoke of his worry for Neji and Tenten, speaking with particular passion regarding the prodigy. Lee was concerned for Neji and said that the Hyuuga could very well do something drastic, what with the tension they all felt as Tenten remained comatose.

"Lee my precious student, indeed the strength of youth runs deep! Your concern for your friends is moving, but your lack of faith in them is most atrocious!" Gai said to the shocked student.

"But Gai-sensei…!" Lee protested, cringing at the disapproval he heard in his mentor's voice.

"LEE!" Gai boomed, effectively cutting the young man off. "The flower of our team does not wither so easily. She persists till the very end if not for anything but those she cares for deeply. You must not doubt her and because she will bloom once more and so will your rival; but you must show them the Power of Youth by supporting them. Is that clear?"

Lee's eyes filled with tears which ran down like Twin Rivers as he listened to his sensei's speech. He could no longer contain himself and so he called out in admiration:

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!" the older jounin replied with equal passion.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

This time, it did go on for an extra 2 minutes, complete with an embrace and a 'running off into the sunset' scene. No one could say that Maito Gai did not know a thing or two about life.

XXXXXX

* * *

It is said that those who believe in fate do so just to have something to blame for their actions. Because of this reasoning, Neji had chosen to turn his life around – if only a little – and decided to change the way he saw things. But as he sat next to Tenten, who for the entire world looked like she was sleeping, he couldn't help but wonder what or _whom_ he was supposed to blame for the cruelty of the situation.

Without a chance for a goodbye, she had been taken from him; but now that she was returned, his heart was breaking into small pieces slowly as he watched her remain unconscious. The person before him looked like a doll-version of the woman he remembered. Her once tan skin looked like porcelain and Neji had the irrational fear that if he touched her, she would be just as cold…and then she would break into tiny pieces – just like his heart.

But being a rational man, he never gave into his fears and so it was with determination that he had attempted to reach out to his beloved. For a long time, even if he hadn't realized it immediately, Tenten had been the only person to fully accept him as he was. From a cold-hearted freak, to a confused teenager as everything he had believed in was stripped from him and finally to the man he was. As time went on, Neji had somehow found himself opening up to her and these had been moments of relief for him. So going back to the periods when he would keep his emotions imprisoned was unthinkable – he had to find a way to bring her back.

It was for such reasons that Neji had requested Tenten not to join ANBU after Lee had informed him that she wanted to apply. Of course, 'requested' is not the word that Tenten would use; the Hyuuga had more or less burst into her apartment and _ordered _her not to join the corps. Furious, she had told him that he didn't own her and if she wanted to join the Black-Ops, she would do so thank you very much! A heated argument had ensued but abruptly ended when Neji's reasons for stopping her came to light; he just didn't want her to get hurt – though that wasn't the way he had stated it. Frustrated, Tenten had battled with the thought, his reasons were…sweet, but she could take care of herself, couldn't he see that? Neji had assured her that he knew this and so Tenten had grudgingly accepted, telling him she would withhold her application, but for a time. Secretly, she had vowed to send him and his overprotective ego sprawling in their next sparring match – and she had.

Now, as the Hyuuga gazed at her, he remembered all the things he had done in an attempt to wake her. Knowing that anything she enjoyed – song, poem, smell – could lead her to consciousness, he brought her favorite flowers to the room every day, touched her, whispered to her, kissed her…but she still remained asleep, as if all this meant nothing to her.

Neji gazed at Tenten's slim form, and as he tucked a loose strand of her once long locks behind an ear, he couldn't stop the confusion that engulfed him. If fate was just another excuse and everything was as a result of choice, then who was to blame for this? Surely not his heart, she was just a victim in all of this and that left just one other person… him.

And for the first time in his life, the Hyuuga prodigy purposefully broke his mask-like façade and let his emotions flow out before the one person who would not be shocked at this, the one person who could truly accept him for who he was.

XXXXXX

* * *

_Tenten gasped as Neji seemingly appeared out of nowhere, broke through her defense and pinned her against a tree, kunai at her throat. Yes, she was tired – who wouldn't be after 3 hours of constant sparring – but a ninja had to always be on alert and to have someone break through her defense like that was inexcusable, fatigue or no._

_She watched his expression move from blank to smug and fought the urge to punch him in the face. Ah! That smirk made her go crazy…but it also made her stomach clench strangely and her breath catch in her throat – though it had taken her a long time to admit this, even to herself._

_Tenten attempted to wiggle out of Neji's grip and his hold on her eased, but just a little. She looked up at him, confused at his refusal to let her go, but suddenly understood when she saw the look in his eyes._

_If their match had been a real battle, she would be dead and though Neji couldn't say it, she knew that he worried often about her…he would never forgive himself if something happened to her._

_She hugged him in an attempt to reassure him._

"_I'm still here," she whispered. "You would never let anything happen to me."_

_Neji stiffened for a second and Tenten knew he was battling with the feelings that arose every time she expressed her blatant trust in him._

"_Tenten…" he began to say._

"_I trust you, and I would never blame you for _anything._" She cut him off._

"_Hn." He replied and she heard the kunai fall to the ground as he hugged her back._

_Neji drew back and Tenten looked at him in confusion again, not sure what was going through his mind. Her curiosity though, was quickly satisfied when she felt his lips against hers, and she let out a small sigh when he drew back again._

_However, Tenten stiffened when she felt his hand slide under her shirt._

"_N-Neji…" she said cautiously. They had agreed never to take things too far, at least not before marriage and he had said he would never dishonor her. So she wondered why he was suddenly…_

_Tenten gasped as she felt his hands, suddenly rough, grope at her. _

"_Neji don't…" she tried to say, but her words were swallowed by rough lips. _

_Suddenly, there were more than 2 hands, all tearing at her clothes. She tried to look at what was going on, but her vision was failing and all she could see were blurs of a face…or was it faces? She tried to push the bodies away, but her own body would not move._

_Tears gathered in the kunoichi's eyes, but she refused to let them fall, she would be strong! Suddenly, a searing pain shot through her entire being and any thoughts of strength fled her mind, leaving only one word in their absence…_

"_NEJI!" she screamed._

Tenten's eyes fought to open as the scene before her was swallowed by darkness. She didn't know how long it took for her to open them – could have been seconds, days, months – but she eventually succeeded.

White light invaded her vision, making her quickly shut her eyelids, but she refused to give up. Slowly fluttering them open again, she tried to move her eyes around the room, still struggling to get accustomed to the light.

"Neji." She attempted to call out, still voicing the one word stuck in her head, but it came out as a faint whisper which surprisingly hurt her throat a great deal.

The bearer of the name heard her call however, and soon, a blurry image before her eyes finally focused to form the face of the one she had dreamt about for so long.

"Tenten?" he asked in the low baritone she was used to, but this time it held a hint of something…grief, sorrow?

She attempted to smile, but failed miserably as her facial muscles just twitched like they had not been in use for a long time.

"Tenten." He said again, this time his eyes and his voice emanating relief.

She briefly wondered at that; what exactly had happened to make him show such emotions? She didn't have much time to ponder this though as his larger frame slowly but surely came down and his hands gently wrapped around her in a loose hug.

To say that she was surprised was like saying your eyes sting just _a little_ when you stare at the sun – in other words, a major understatement, but she was still pleased to have him near her. The weapons' mistress sighed and barely noticed her body flinch as his body came in contact with the bare flesh of her arms; it was enough to have him like this.

Tenten felt, rather than saw Neji frown, but it was quick to fade and she vaguely wondered at that, but this too was quick to disappear as her mind became puzzled at what he said next.

"Welcome back." He murmured.

XXXXXX

* * *

A/N: well, this chapter practically wrote itself and I honestly hope it was not too dark. I put in a teeny-weeny bit of fluff but it quickly mutated to…well…something else.

About Neji: just in case anyone missed it, he and Tenten were dating before the explosion and to suddenly have to lose her was a situation he had not prepared for. This coupled with the fact that he couldn't do anything about it at the time – not to mention his emotional constipation – would lead him to act as he has. Even though he comes off as emotionless in canon, I feel that his emotions tend to be intense, whether they are shown or not, so I accounted for that in this chapter.

I am moving this story to a certain direction and I wonder whether anyone can tell what it is – I put a few hints here and there. Well, **review** but don't forget to leave me some love, ne? (^_^)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:wow, I've made it this far. Here is chapter 3, enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I seriously don't understand why I have to write this: _Clearly_ I don't own Naruto.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 3_

…**even in comfort.**

She felt…uncomfortable. There was no other word to describe it really. As Tenten sat under the unwavering gaze of her idol, she could not help but fidget. The Godaime had been her role-model since she could remember and this had been the _only_ reason she had not spoken out in indignation at the rudeness of the stare.

_Rude_! No, no! That was no way to think of the Hokage!

Of course, there were some who did not have this view of the great kunoichi. Neji for one had assured Tenten once, that her adoration for Tsunade was unfounded. He had then taken it upon himself to point out _all_ her flaws. She had a gambling addiction, a drinking problem, not to mention her inability to reign in her temper and her vanity – what with that jutsu that made her look young all the time. Then, there was the point of her indecency; no self-respecting kunoichi would show that much of her chest area…

At that point, Tenten had lost it. She had slugged the unsuspecting Hyuuga prodigy in the jaw, killing intent flaring, and had informed him that _he_ had several flaws as well and she didn't know what she was doing dating him if his intolerance was to be added to the list.

Neji had paled and apologized stiffly – or he had come as close as he could – and even sat through one of Naruto's loud talks for an hour…till the other boy had felt so threatened by the menacing glare that he was forced to shut up.

Tenten smirked at the memory, but this was quick to fade. It had been 5 days since she had woken from her coma but she did not feel refreshed at all. Even after all the rest, she still felt…sick, so any pleasant thought was welcome to her. All her musings were cut short when she remembered where she was and noted that the Hokage was still staring. The gaze made her feel unsettled, like the Godaime was not just looking at her but through her, as if she knew something Tenten didn't. Of course, this did not make the weapons' mistress feel better in any way.

"Tenten…"

"Hai Tsunade-sama." she replied, jumping a little at the sudden break in silence.

"You have undoubtedly, during your capture, endured various forms of…torture, many which put a strain on your body hence the period of rest granted to you…"

Tsunade paused again and Tenten had to stare at this. The older woman was choosing her words carefully, _too carefully._ What was going on?

"However, we need to know if there's any threat to the village, no matter how small, we need to be prepared for any form of attack. Are you able to provide us with this information?"

Tenten continued to stare at her idol. So _this_ is what it was about; a debriefing—it was long overdue. But the way the debriefing was going was strange. Normally, shinobi would report what happened on their missions and if there were any kinks to straighten out, the Interrogation and Torture Unit would handle it. Needless to say, no shinobi, no matter how stoic, wanted to face Morino Ibiki and Anko on _any _day; so there were few kinks, if any, to work out in most reports.

With the Hokage asking questions that the Interrogation Unit should be asking, the situation seemed really odd and Tenten started to fidget again. Tsunade-sama had frowned a little when she said 'torture'; _what_ _did she know_? Tenten took a deep breath to steady her nerves and answered the question.

"No Tsunade-sama, I'm afraid I cannot avail the village with any useful information. I was…incapacitated most of the time and there's little I can remember."

Tenten tried to keep any emotion from surfacing and showing in her voice or on her face, but it was a harder task than she had imagined. The memories she had successfully repressed the past few days were re-emerging. She was a ninja and that meant sentiment was out of the question, but it also meant that she should be useful to her village as well, however it felt like she wasn't doing a very good job.

The young jounin shifted again when the Hokage fixed her with a look of such intensity, it felt like a physical blow.

"This sort of situation is not to my liking Tenten," the Hokage sighed, easing the force behind her gaze. "Many are of the view that you be handed over to the Interrogation and Torture Unit to make sure that you were not…in cahoots with your kidnappers…"

The blood drained from Tenten's face.

_What_?

They thought that _she_ was…did they have _any_ idea what had been done to her? They considered her a-a _traitor_? They had no right! Tenten was suddenly glad for the chair she was seated in and found herself tightly gripping the arms. She wanted to express her thoughts, her outrage at the statement, but the Hokage was the Hokage, and one did not yell at her and break her office windows simply because one was angry.

She fought to gather her thoughts and inform the Hokage that these speculations were unfounded – though what she really wanted to say was 'absolute imbecilic _crap_' – but there was no need. Tsunade's next phrase revealed that the Hokage had the same views on the inquisition-requests and Tenten started to breathe a little easier.

"However, I do not govern my operatives based on others' opinions," At this, the Godaime's piercing stare returned. "Though this possibility has to be ruled out nevertheless."

Tenten felt her stomach sink, but she remained pokerfaced.

"It would be careless of me to completely ignore the fact that you could have collaborated with your captors and so, if you agree, we will test this in the gentlest way I can think of. This is not a procedure you have to accept, but it is the most humane." Tsunade said.

Tenten wondered how her idol could speak such piercing words with a straight face, but she had to obey her Hokage nevertheless.

"What did you have in mind Hokage-sama?" Tenten asked softly.

"The use of a Genjutsu master like jounin-Kurenai or of a Yamanaka would be employed to look into your thoughts and see things as you saw them for that period of time. It is an invasive method but not physically painful, and chances of any mind fracturing occurring are almost nonexistent."

Tenten's eyes widened and before she could stop it, a firm 'no!' escaped her lips.

Tsunade looked at her in surprise, then her eyes softened and something akin to understanding shone through.

"Tenten, I understand your reservations, but if this is not done, the council will overrule me and they _will_ deal with this situation in a less placid manner," she said softly.

Tenten couldn't help the frustration that overtook her at this phrase. _Understand?_ How could the _Hokage_ possibly understand what she had been through? She held back any retort though until the Godaime was done.

"I dealt with your injuries remember; there's not much that I don't know. A mind scan will reveal what you want to hide, but this sort of situation is better shared than concealed."

Tenten stared at the older kunoichi with wide eyes. _She knew_? This was extremely humiliating; her idol knew about her most recent and most degrading weakness.

"Hokage-sama, if you know…then you would understand…" Tenten began hesitantly but was promptly cut off.

"I understand, but this has to be done. I will assign chuunin-Yamanaka Ino to you, she is in your age-group and the intrusion would feel much less so." Tsunade said.

Tenten grimaced; she knew an order when she heard it. The weapons' mistress began to voice her acquiescence but the Godaime's next statement made her freeze.

"What about the Hyuuga boy? This is something he ought to know."

Tenten almost choked at that; just _how_ much did the woman know?

"With all due respect Tsunade-sama, I don't think this is a situation that concerns him." Tenten said a little too quickly.

Tsunade stared at her for a moment and then sighed. "Do what you will, but I do not want this decision to affect your efficiency, is that clear?"

"Hai!" Tenten replied, spine suddenly straight.

"Good," Tsunade smiled, "I'll expect you ready for duty in time but for now, a period of rest is granted to you."

Tenten was honestly agitated by this news. She could not bear the thought of an unspecified time of respite; she'd be plagued by unsettling memories night and day. She had to try and make the Hokage change her mind no matter how generous the woman's offer had been.

"Tsunade-sama…I would prefer to return to active duty as soon as possible. My injuries are healed and there is nothing that should keep me back." The weapons' mistress said hoping she hadn't insulted the Godaime by shrugging off her order.

On her part, Tsunade was surprised; the girl clearly needed all the rest she could get but here she was asking to be put on duty. Why would she…ah yes, she needed the distraction. Tenten looked like she would need more than a few days of rest but her request was not completely unfounded. The Sannin considered this for a moment as she watched the woman before her, and then she made her decision.

"Very well then. I'll shorten your respite. Be ready for duty within a week. Dismissed."

What, a week? That was still too much time! Tenten opened her mouth to argue, but the Hokage turned her chair to face the window overlooking the village. Sighing, Tenten got up, bowed and whispered "arigato" before she left the office.

The situation was getting more and more complicated with each passing day. She had to make sure no one else knew, not even Ino, her assigned '_therapist.'_

XXXXXX

As Sakura gazed at the cherry-blossom petals that glided on the most recent breeze, she let out a small sigh of longing. The feeling of floating on air while in love was one that many people longed for and she was not an exception on that sunny spring morning. Being a ninja however, meant that such sentiments were to be discarded and she shook her head in an attempt to rid it of these musings, but they remained stuck – and the civilian couples walking around hand in hand didn't help either. The pink-haired kunoichi realized she was not doing herself any favors by continuing to watch the lovers and so she got up with the intention of spending her day-off somewhere else. She turned around and suddenly found herself face-to-face with the one man who still managed to make her heart beat faster no matter what he did.

"Sasuke-kun." She gasped.

The man gave her one of his signature blank stares and said nothing. Sakura looked up at him and had to suppress yet another gasp as the haunting beauty of the Uchiha heir hit her again for the nth time. Her cheeks turned a pale shade of pink but she barely noticed as she focused on not making a fool out of herself again.

"How was your mission?" she asked, hoping to get a few words out of him at the very least.

"Sakura," he said – and she almost shivered at the sound of his deep baritone – "that information is only meant for the Hokage."

"Oh, right." She said, all the while valiantly fighting to keep her face from turning red, and she had almost succeeded too, until she heard the patronizing reprimand in his voice.

Sakura didn't understand why she reacted like this toward the Uchiha. She cringed every time memories of how she had fawned over him as a teenager came to mind – where had her self-respect been at the time? But things had changed when, after he left the village and refused to return, she had come to the conclusion that he probably never would and would _never_ reciprocate her feelings.

The latter had been really hard to accept and Naruto had really tried to cheer her up; but it was Ino who had ultimately succeeded in slapping some sense into her. Realizing one is in a situation that deals with unrequited love isn't easy, and her old rival had been a gem in those times. Sakura had focused her energy elsewhere and had made it to special-jounin with her medical expertise gained under Tsunade. The pink-haired ninja had slowly but surely gotten over her feelings for the Uchiha avenger and had moved on with her life…until he returned 5 years later after killing both Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi. The lightening-natured shinobi had surely grown very strong, but he had seemed confused – being an avenger was all he had ever lived for. He had willingly undergone the punishments and endured the provisos Tsunade placed on him, which were not too harsh; after-all, he _had_ defeated one of the village's nastiest enemies.

She had tried to be there for him as much as she could but in the process, Sakura had found herself slowly reverting to her old self – the old feelings of attraction were slowly returning. In an attempt to stop this, she had tried to be as cold to him as he was to everyone else, but she couldn't pull it off. With her and Naruto's encouragement, Sasuke had moved from gennin to chuunin to jounin and finally to ANBU within 2 and a half years – a record to be marveled at. He was not to be outdone by Hyuuga Neji however and was currently up for ANBU captain.

But now, as Sakura gazed at the man she had loved most of her life, she made a decision that, unbeknownst to her, would serve to bring her great pain, and great pleasure. She decided that if she was to truly move on – like Sasuke-_kun_ had – she had to stay away from the man; he confused her too much, and she also had to drop that idiotic honorific as it was far too affectionate for the road she wanted to take.

So it was with grim determination that Sakura proceeded to dismiss herself from the Uchiha's presence.

"Very well Sasuke, I wish you a good day," she said as she sidestepped him and walked off.

If she had looked back though, she would have seen that the Uchiha heir had turned around and was watching her leave, eyebrows raised in surprise. But, with an amused smirk and an approving grunt of 'hn,' he turned as well and walked off in the opposite direction.

XXXXXX

_Hands groping, breath pungent, cackles of laughter filter in from the darkness. Suddenly, the foul breath is against her ear and nasty words come out of the cracked lips in whispers. She tries to shut out the lascivious murmurs but her brain is strangely alert yet her body won't move. _Why_ won't it move? A sudden fear grips her heart…_

Tenten blinked and shook her head in attempt to get the unbearable memories out. She needed to focus; losing concentration while engaged in a taijustu match with one of the deadliest men in the Fire Country was simply not done – unless one was suicidal. They were in one of their favorite training grounds in Konoha, one hidden in the woods and so they could let loose without worrying about hurting anyone.

She blocked a fist aimed at her jaw and ducked as a whizzing kick flew over her head. The weapons' mistress was most comfortable when something attached to or fully made from sharp gleaming steel was in her hands, but she was also very proficient in hand-to-hand combat. This time however, she was largely on the defensive and found it hard to land even a single hit on her opponent. Tenten did a back-flip in order to avoid a series of punches and kicks which, if they had connected, would have probably left her unconscious – damn, that was close! She really had to get her 'head in the game,' but it was not easy.

_Rough calloused hands tear at her clothing and she struggles against her binds. Her chakra flow is almost non-existent but her mind is still sharply clear…how was that possible? She feels a sudden prick and from the corner of her eye, she notices someone injecting something in her arm. _Drugs. _That explained it, her captors wanted her to _feel_ each and every thing they did to her, all the while making sure she didn't escape – 'the binds must be made from chakra-draining material' she thinks absently. She is bound spread-eagled on a hard surface and she flinches when she feels a coarse hand snaking up her thigh…_

Tenten gasped as she took a hit to the chest and landed painfully on the ground, rolling several times before coming to a stop. She groaned as she saw her opponent take another battle-ready stance and so, she reluctantly stood on shaky legs. They had been at it for _hours_; it was unbelievable that he still wanted to fight. Sighing heavily, the kunoichi ran at the man before her, a plan already forming in her mind. She performed a taijutsu combination complete with a series of twists and turns that made it look like an elaborate deadly dance – she really hoped she could keep her mind focused this time…

_Her eyes fill with tears, but she bites her lips and refuses to cry out. This is a clear testament to her forbearance as the pain wracking her body is intolerable. Ignoring the spasms of pain that occasionally jolt her body, the man continues to violate her chastity, taking from her the one thing she had always meant for another. A rebellious tear slips down her cheek as this thought goes through her head. Suddenly, the pungent breath reappears from the woodwork and a hoarse voice whispers next to her ear._

"_Sweetheart, don't cry. This is what men do; allow us to clear the mystery for you."_

_She hears a faint cackle of laughter but this is quickly forgotten when she feels coarse lips against her neck. A tongue flickers against her skin; she flinches and suddenly, a sharp pain runs through her neck as she feels teeth sink in. suddenly letting go of everything, she lets out a sharp scream but this is quickly muffled as rough lips engulf hers and she tastes her blood on them._

The air whooshed out of her lungs as she was suddenly pinned to a tree. Tenten had lost the match but she could not understand how. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to recall the last few seconds, but all that flashed across her mind were scenes from her capture. Quickly opening them again, she found herself looking into silver eyes set in a blank face.

"Tenten, if you're not ready for training we can hold it off. You don't have to unduly push yourself." Neji said, his voice betraying the slightest hint of concern.

The weapons' mistress looked at her sparring opponent in surprise, had her weakness shown that much? She had arrived at their usual training ground surprisingly earlier than Neji and had begun to toss kunai at specific targets in boredom. She had missed a couple of times. Granted it had been by a few millimeters, but still she had _missed_. Tenten _never_ missed a target; that was common knowledge! When he showed up later, she was in an odd mood and so had began to spar with him hoping to get her mind off the memories that kept replaying in her mind – it had only gotten worse. Sighing heavily, Tenten attempted to twist her way out of his grip but it remained firm, though he loosened it a bit to allow for movement. She looked up at him.

"I'm fine Neji, I'm just a little tired and who wouldn't be after all that time of constant sparring." She said, all the while trying to smile but failing miserably.

The Hyuuga just stared at her and she almost flinched at the reprimand in his eyes. They seemed to shout 'liar' at her and she started feeling a little defensive.

"What was wrong with this match anyway?" Tenten asked, lifting her chin slightly.

Neji looked at her for a moment and then began pointing out all her flaws and errors in the session while comparing them to their previous matches. He even mentioned the kunai incidences and Tenten cringed at that – how long had he been watching her? The silver-eyed shinobi said all this in a matter-of-fact tone while still staring into her eyes. She felt a blush start to rise up as she realized that he had her cornered.

"What's bothering you?" Neji asked as he raised a hand to tuck a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, but she flinched at this. He frowned slightly and stepped away from her. The Hyuuga was getting worried about her and their most recent training session only served to increase his concerns. Tenten had been distracted most of the time; even before that, she had seemed like she was in a different world. He didn't understand it. From her body language, it was clear that she would get lost in her memories – unpleasant memories – and he had a sneaking suspicion that it had a lot to do with her capture.

But all this did not explain why she shrank from him every time he tried to touch her. Neji originally had hated being touched in any way but Tenten had changed this eventually with her subtle caresses, gentle massages and intimate hugs – they made him _want_ to be touched by her. But now, _she_ would flinch when he touched her and would not allow him to get near enough to kiss her…he really was puzzled and was determined to get to the bottom of it there and then.

"There is nothing wrong Neji, trust me. I'm just…tired; nothing a few hours of rest can't take care of." Tenten said with a chuckle as she moved away from him.

Neji narrowed his eyes at that; her chuckle had sounded forced and her body language was stiff, almost mechanical. There was also the way she had moved away from him, almost nonchalantly but not quite, she had looked like a cornered animal backing slowly away from a predator. So he _was_ onto something.

"Trust works both ways, Tenten." Neji softly said. He was going to get her to tell him what the problem was, if it was the last thing he did. Besides, how was he supposed to be there for her if she didn't trust him?

Tenten felt the frustration in her intensify, why did he insist on questioning her? If he was so adept at reading body language, then couldn't he tell that she didn't want to talk about this? This was a topic best avoided! But she understood the Hyuuga prodigy more than most and knew that once he got something on his mind, he would not let it go until his curiosity was satisfied. She sighed as she prepared herself for what would most probably turn into an interrogation session.

"Neji, can't you just let this one go?" Tenten asked in resignation as she turned to face him.

The silver-eyed shinobi just continued to watch her, allowing her to take her time. He was sure she knew there was no other way to get out of this; however if she decided to continue avoiding the situation, he would play along…but no one said he _had_ to play fair…

The weapons' mistress straightened her back as an idea hit her. The truth was too painful and she wasn't sure whether she could even say it out loud, Neji would just have to settle for what she was going to tell him.

"Fine," she said with a small sigh, she had to do this perfectly so as to not rouse any more suspicions. "The Council wanted me interrogated because they believe I could have been conspiring together with my…my captors. Tsunade-sama however, gave me the benefit of the doubt and found another way to investigate the claims." She said a little hesitantly, allowing a bit of bitterness to slip through after-all, she wasn't entirely happy about the arrangements.

Neji's brows rose then dipped slightly – this was his pensive look. What Tenten had just told him explained many things, like how the Hokage hadn't wanted him anywhere near the case. She knew he would strongly object to the speculations about his teammate – at least she thought they were just teammates. But he was puzzled about the Godaime's suggestion, what alternative option had she given?

"What did the Hokage suggest?" he asked.

Tenten flinched at his forceful tone but replied nevertheless. "She has assigned Ino Yamanaka to me to look into my memories."

"What?" Neji asked his eyes narrowing. He was taken aback, how could the Godaime suggest such an invasive method?

Tenten shifted nervously at his reaction; really, _any_ eye movement was not good at all. This was getting out of hand, she had to try and pacify him.

"It's not that bad, I mean other options are downright inhumane. Besides, worse things have happened…" she said before she suddenly stopped short. Neji however looked like he hadn't heard and she really prayed he had not.

The pale-eyed ANBU captain was trying to calm himself down. She was right, he of all people knew the unpleasant ways of getting information from subjects; the Hokage's decision was a relief in comparison to other options. He should just calm down…wait, what was that last part?

"What do you mean 'worse things?'" he asked, his eyes narrowing further.

_Crap!_

"Nothing, Neji. Look, I'm going home, maybe I'll see you later." Tenten said rather quickly as she turned around ready to make her 'escape.' The thought that he would probably go after her was overshadowed by her utter need to get away, so she quickly decided on disappearing before he could do anything about it. After-all, ninja were supposed to be fast, right?

Wrong!

She had fed chakra to her feet and was about to jump off into the trees when a hand suddenly grabbed her. The brown-eyed jounin was not expecting that – though she really should have – so instinct kicked in and she automatically reached for a weapon. Neji somehow managed to knock it out of her hand and they grappled for a bit before he pinned her to the ground. Tenten was beginning to feel panicked, this was _Neji_ but…but it still felt like…like one of _those_ men was on top of her. She tried to calm down, but images were flashing across her mind with alarming vividness, and then she remembered that whisper…

"_This is what men do…"_

At that point, Tenten lost it. She bucked against Neji and started struggling against him with startling ferocity and strength.

"No!" she cried out, "get off me!"

Neji moved away from the weapons' mistress so fast it looked like he had leapt off her. The silver-eyed shinobi looked down at her, a mixture of shock and pain written across his features. Just _what_ exactly was going on? He quickly smoothed out his features however, and studied the woman before him hoping to understand what had happened and why. Tenten was seated up, legs folded with hands balled into fists at her sides. She was panting softly and the wild look in her eyes was slowly receding but…was she _trembling_? The whole picture was wrong, this was not the strong-willed kunoichi he knew; something had happened to her. Neji knelt down and approached her slowly not wanting to startle her.

"Tenten…" he said, stretching a hand out to cup her cheek.

She jerked violently and he couldn't help but wince at that, what had he done that had frightened her so? Neji frowned when he saw unshed tears in her chocolate eyes as she looked up at him.

"Neji…Oh God, Neji." She said brokenly and he pulled her into a tight hug before he could stop himself, ignoring the fact that she stiffened painfully when he did so. Before long, Tenten relaxed against him and her trembling gradually decreased. The ANBU captain would have loved to just hold her like that forever, but there were far too many unanswered questions running through his head. Pulling back, he put a finger beneath her chin and lifted it so he could look into her eyes.

Tenten's face was pale and her eyes betrayed a look that was so broken his chest ached as he gazed into them. This was not right! Her eyes were supposed to be full of joy, mischief, amusement and love; not, not _despair_! What had happened?

"Tenten?" He asked hesitantly, hoping she would understand what he was trying to say.

She stiffened again and braced her hands upon his chest, pushing him away. Neji had anticipated this, so he stayed put and tightened his hold on her slightly; there was no chance of him letting this go. Tenten started struggling, the wild look in her eyes returning.

"Let go of me!" she cried. "Let go of me you bastard!"

Neji froze in shock and Tenten scrambled away from him, taking advantage of his slackened grip. Looking up at her, the prodigy noticed her eyes were glazed over and she was looking at him but he had an odd feeling that she wasn't really seeing him. He stood up; enough was enough. Tenten was clearly experiencing a warp in reality and he was almost sure it was a flashback of some sort. Though he was slightly relieved that she didn't mean what she had said, Neji knew he had to snap her out of it before she hurt herself – besides, he didn't like people keeping secrets from him.

"Tenten, calm down…" her eyes narrowed; that was not good.

Neji took a step toward her and she took several backwards. Sighing, he closed the distance between them in a blur of motion and grabbed both her hands so she couldn't reach for a weapon. He was beginning to suspect that his proximity would trigger her violence, but he had no choice. Tenten however was not a jounin for nothing and she quickly used her legs, trying to drive him away. He countered all her moves and eventually had her pinned to a tree again, completely immobile with both hands held above her head. She let out an enraged scream.

Tenten hated that position; it made her feel so powerless, so vulnerable. She had tried to keep in mind that she was with Neji, but every time he insisted on getting close to her, all she could see were blurs of men – there was something wrong with her and she had to get away before Neji found out what exactly it was. She would not have him see her as weak.

"Tenten, what is it?" he asked.

She turned away from his burning silver eyes. "I already told you…"

"Don't lie to me." He cut her off softly.

Tenten was at a loss. She tried to keep her panic and frustration down but it was a losing battle. The anger in her was beginning to burn out of control, why wouldn't he just let it go? The roiling mixture of aggravation, fear, anger and pain was driving her crazy. She had to get away before she snapped.

Tenten glared at the prodigy, her will and determination fighting against his resolve and dying pitifully. She struggled against him, all the while knowing it was useless.

"Don't." Neji said and Tenten stilled.

"Let me go." She said, hoping he didn't see her panic. The emotions were straining against her control and it didn't help that he just continued to stare at her.

"Neji, let me go!" she cried out, bucking against him.

"Not until you tell me what is wrong."

"No! Now get away from me!" it was useless to continue denying there was something wrong.

"Tenten, don't do this to yourself." He said softly and the pain mixed with confusion in his eyes made her emotions run wilder.

"Don't," she whispered. "Please Neji, don't do this."

"I want to help you."

"You don't understand…" she murmured.

"Then help me understand."

"You can't!" Tenten said, her voice starting to rise again. Why was he so stubborn?

She saw his brows dip slightly and knew he was getting exasperated; that was good, maybe he would leave her alone. But this was not to be as he suddenly activated his byakugan and stared at her. With the byakugan, he could read her body-language and eye-movements so accurately that he could easily figure out her weakness.

Her panic, along with her fear and anger, grew to such an extent that she was just barely hanging onto her control and tears sprung up in her eyes.

"Why would you lie to me?" he asked.

"I…I didn't…"

"You didn't tell me the whole truth."

"Neji you don't know what you're asking for!" she almost yelled.

"I'm not stupid Tenten." He snapped. "This has gone on long enough, you're acting childish."

"What?"

"Reign in your temper. A respectable kunoichi should not act in such a manner and if this is your reaction, then perhaps the Council has reason to doubt your loyalty, after-all, you are acting extremely suspicious."

Tenten snapped.

"How dare you!" she yelled. "Do you have any idea…what the hell? You can't stand here and judge me, I was _raped_ repeatedly and you-you think you have a right to…you have no idea what I went through!"

Neji paled, his plan had worked but…this…_what_?

When Tenten realized what she had just said, she closed her eyes to hide her tears and also to block out the image of Neji's horrified face as his byakugan deactivated and he stepped away from her. Now he knew her greatest weakness and she refused to open her eyes, not wanting to see if there was disgust written across his features.

She stiffened when she felt his arms around her again in a tight hug. This was too much for her and she burst out into tears, sobs wracking her body powerfully.

Neji froze, they _what?_ He unconsciously tightened his grip around her but she did not complain and instead buried her face into his chest as he felt his shirt get wet. The dark-haired prodigy was too stunned to speak…_they did what?_

It was all he could do not to hug her with such force that she passed out. Neji was aghast and _extremely_ pissed off. He was definitely going to talk to the Hokage about intensifying the investigations; those, those bastards! A mixture of shock, pain and white hot anger were roiling within him and he let out a low growl. The Hyuuga genius knew he had to calm down however and so he took deep steady breaths not bothering to hide his reaction from her. Tenten's pain was evident to him and he was not going to keep his emotions from her either, at least not while she clung to him like that in desperation.

Neji wanted to go burst some heads, but he stayed put. For that time, he would protect his heart from the cruel world that had done this to her.

XXXXXX

Hiashi sat in his office and contemplated retiring early for the day. It was completely out of character for him but it had been a surprisingly peaceful day and he thought that perhaps, if fate smiled on him today, he would get 6 hours of sleep that night.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned when he realized that his nephew had not returned to the compound yet. It was 11.13pm and Neji – having always been a stickler for propriety – would arrive at the compound half an hour before 9.00pm just in case the main family summoned him for the evening meal. Hiashi almost smiled at this thought as he remembered his younger days.

Neji had grown into quite the young man: honorable, handsome and powerful enough to protect those he had to. Of course the boy's more recent emotional stability and his drastic reduction in hatred for the main family were an added advantage and he would make a good leader for the branch house. It was no wonder many noble houses in the Fire Country were proposing highly beneficial matrimonial matches for the young shinobi. The Hyuuga council of elders had rejected each and every single offer however; they already had someone in mind for him – but therein lay the problem.

Hiashi knew that Neji had already started courting his female teammate; after-all, he wasn't the all-knowing clan head for nothing – but catching the young genius passionately kissing the weapons' mistress had been a nice hint too. He smirked when he remembered the mortified look that had been on the ANBU captain's face…ah, to be young. Hiashi knew the girl well enough from the times he had interacted with her, she was courageous, strong willed but not stubborn and had a good head on her shoulders, all in all, a good choice for a wife. But he, more than anyone, regretted that this could not be.

In a recent council meeting, the Hyuuga elders had decided that a member of Neji's prowess was to marry within the clan so as to not 'dilute' the powerful byakugan he possessed. Hiashi had pointed out that the byakugan was a dominant trait and would not be 'diluted' in any way, plus there were the side-effects of inbreeding to consider – he did not want to give the boy any other reason to hate the main branch. But the elders had, in arrogant coldness, told him that they were aware of these facts, but the decision was final and that they already had a list of distant cousins the boy could choose from; this would eliminate the possibility of inbreeding side-effects.

Hiashi sighed; Neji would not appreciate the news that he was to choose a bride in 6 months from within the Hyuuga.

He got up with all the grace of a fatigued prestigious clan head and exited his personal haven. Oh yes, he was most certainly going to have an early night, but six hours of sleep? Not even the Naras could achieve that with such troublesome events occurring.

XXXXXX

**A/N:** alright, please don't kill me. Some might think I'm overdoing it with the whole angsty theme, but this is the plot line and I will stick to it. Don't worry though, things get much better later on, but that's like muuuuccchhh later on… but seriously, don't kill me.

Just before I end, I would like to bring forward one more point. Most writers of Neji-Tenten fics tend to make it seem like all that has to happen for a romantic ending is for Neji to return Tenten's feelings. This is not entirely wrong but I would like to say that relationships don't work like that! Granted this is a fictional world, but what's the point of good story writing if one doesn't make us connect with the characters? I believe that relationships – especially romantic ones – find their own stable ground, but not before shaky beginnings. Soooo, now you know one of the ways I view the world, don't be surprised at any twists that pop up. *wink*

Thanks for reading, don't forget to review, but be gentle, yes? (^_^)


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** thank you for the reviews, seriously I was gonna finish this story reviews or no but am grateful for those who did review, you guys make me wanna sing. Here's the fourth chapter where I finally lay the foundation for another pairing, enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** obviously I do not own Naruto otherwise, green tights would not be canon. (no offense those who love them.)

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 4_

…**even in reminiscences.**

For the tenth time that morning, Shikamaru wondered why he just couldn't keep his nose out of other people's business – the results were always more than he bargained for. As the lazy jounin gazed at the seriously stressed-out Hokage, he couldn't help but sigh. He had finally gotten enough motivation to tell the Fifth his theory on Tenten's capture but he was slowly beginning to regret the action. To say the Godaime had not been pleased was a major understatement and she had yelled at the poor genius, asking him why he had not come forth with the theory earlier? She calmed down after a few minutes – and a couple of _sake_ bottles – and had questioned him intently for quite some time, exploring all the possibilities; the thought of the perpetrators coming from within the Hidden Leaf was shocking to say the least.

Shikamaru was starting to think that the whole troublesome situation was almost done when there was a sharp knock on the door and a few seconds later, a familiar ANBU captain walked in. The genius strategist almost groaned when he saw Hyuuga Neji, the very picture of calm but with fury simmering underneath, walk purposefully toward the Hokage's desk and ask how the investigation into Tenten's _disappearance_ was proceeding. The blond kunoichi studied the Hyuuga for a moment and spoke in a voice much softer than the one she had been using earlier.

"So she told you." It wasn't a question and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in interest when he saw Neji's eyes widen slightly and his fists clench. True, it was a mild reaction but for the normally stoic Hyuuga, it was the equivalent of a yell in anger and the air suddenly seemed to thicken.

"Nara Shikamaru here has a few interesting thoughts on the case." Tsunade said casually, as if the air was not static with tension. Why was the Hokage bringing him into this?

Shikamaru almost flinched when hard silver eyes glared at him and he began wondering how he had gotten into that situation.

"Does he know?" Neji asked ambiguously.

"No, there was no need for him to. However if you deem it necessary that he should…" Tsunade trailed off, leaving the Hyuuga to make up his mind. _Now _Shikamaru was really curious, but he had a sinking feeling that knowing what was up was not really worth the trouble it might come with.

"I'd rather not be the one to tell, it's not my place." Neji finally said.

"Very-well then." Tsunade said before she turned to Shikamaru and finally convinced him that this situation was really troublesome with her next phrase. "During the time jounin Tenten was captured, she was tortured and raped as her physical exam showed at the time. Whether the rape was part of the torture or not cannot be ascertained at the moment and she, for obvious reasons, refuses to discuss it at length."

Shikamaru felt his eyes widen in shock as the Hokage's words sunk in and he finally began to understand the events that had occurred around him. Why Tenten had been absent from the public since her return, why Tsunade had been really angry that he had withheld his opinions on the matter and finally, the way Neji seemed to radiate fury. Shikamaru found himself almost pitying the Hyuuga; he could only imagine the turmoil of emotions such news had brought the ANBU captain, but he had to keep them in check – he was a ninja after-all. While this information explained a few puzzling situations, it brought many more questions in mind however.

"How?" Shikamaru asked. It was an irrelevant and extremely stupid question, but his mind had not yet recovered. Thankfully, the Hokage answered, sparing him a scathing comment from the glaring Hyuuga.

"Drugs."

Both shinobi turned to look at her in confusion and she began to explain with a sigh.

"I found traces of chemicals in her body that are metabolites of various drugs and poisons common on the market. They were meant to incapacitate the body but increase mental alertness."

Shikamaru didn't know how to react to this and from the looks of things, neither did Neji. It was one thing for this to happen to someone random, but to a kunoichi you knew personally and thought to be the least troublesome woman you had ever met…So they both just sat in silent shock as the air in the room seemed to grow thicker by the minute.

"Shikamaru, explain your theories to the captain here." Tsunade said, snapping him out of his stunned state.

He scratched the back of his head and proceeded to tell Neji his opinions. Needless to say, Neji got more agitated by the second while his glare intensified and Shikamaru hoped it wasn't directed to him. The older jounin finally turned around, slammed his fists on the Hokage's desk and hissed a demand.

"What is going on here? Why haven't you done anything about it yet?"

Tsunade glared right back at him and with a sigh of 'troublesome,' Shikamaru moved to lean against a wall – he secretly hoped Neji didn't find out about his delay with the information or else any hope of walking for the next week would go down the drain.

"Don't test me Hyuuga." Tsunade snapped, suddenly all business. "This is not a situation you should be involved in and be grateful I even allow you to receive information on it. She is a valuable operative and I will try to find out who is responsible, whether they are from the Leaf or not, so I don't need you breathing down my neck."

Neji backed-up at the warning tone in Tsunade's voice and let out a 'hn' which made the buxom woman narrow her eyes.

"It doesn't make sense though." Shikamaru muttered. "Why would they stage such an elaborate capture method, only to torture and finally return her to the village? If what she said is true and they didn't question her or hint at any threat to the Village, then why would they take her in the first place…? Unless…"

The other two occupants in the room faced him as what he was suggesting sunk in: perhaps Tenten _was _in cahoots with her captors; it was the only theory that even came close to explaining the disturbing situation anyway.

"No, that is not a possibility." Neji said with all the confidence of a man who truly believed what he was saying. His fists were trembling slightly and Shikamaru barely stopped himself from flinching as he realized the ANBU captain was probably seeing red and would have socked him if they were in any other place.

"Things are rarely what they seem Neji." Tsunade said calmly and the Hyuuga turned his glare on her. "

"However, due to her loyal service, I believe the benefit-of-the-doubt is appropriate and I'll believe she's innocent until proven guilty. I will inform both of you of any advances in the case, but report to me immediately you find out something." The Hokage said before she reached for another bottle of _sake_.

They didn't have to be told to know they were dismissed.

**XXXXXX**

Yamanaka Ino was quite a sight to behold at age 20. With her shoulders back, blond tresses streaming in the breeze and a graceful stride, she was the object of both admiration and envy everywhere she went. That sunny spring morning however, her mind was far from the appreciating gazes of the young men along the street and she frowned slightly, wondering how she would accomplish the task at hand.

The Godaime had requested her – though 'ordered' was more like it – to examine Tenten's memories as regarded her capture and to report anything…_suspicious_…It was a peculiar request to say the least and made her want to know more but Tsunade-sama had refused to give any more details. It seemed this was one of those 'need-to-know basis only' situations and Ino was sick of them. She felt so left-out of many things recently. The Clan was preparing her as the next head and she suddenly seemed to be needed everywhere and in every meeting. It was really annoying as she would have rather hung-out with her friends. There was also the fact that in all the Rookie-nine, she was the only one who was still at chunnin level – even Sakura had made it to special-jounin – it was humiliating really. With all the work and demands she had to deal with, Ino was not sure she would be invited to take a jounin exam anytime soon and that was more upsetting than being fatigued day-in, day-out.

The blue-eyed kunoichi however, quickly suppressed the depressing thoughts and donned the professional aura needed for the impending task. She knocked at Tenten's door and smiled in greeting as the older ninja opened it and invited her in. It was rather unorthodox to operate in the jounin's home but mind-scanning was a draining exercise for both parties and it was more convenient to carry it out in a comfortable and private environment.

Ino had gotten to know Tenten rather well over the years and had grown to like the bold but gentle weapons' mistress, so making her undergo such a demanding and strenuous activity was hard, but orders were orders. The truth was that though the Yamanaka were the best in all things mental, they still had a ways to go as regarded searching hidden parts of the brain and anything could go wrong. However, since this was a simple memory-scan, Ino could handle it but the strain put on Tenten would be tremendous and her body would be in pain several hours after – it was the price to pay.

The theory was that having a foreign presence enter the mind is so disorienting that the normal body impulses are usually distorted to such an extent that a simple caress could cause excruciating pain thereafter and a few hours are needed to restore the brain to normal. Though the procedure does not tamper with the patient's chakra system, it drains the body's energy so much that one cannot move even if they were glowing full of chakra. After going through all this with Tenten, Ino got to the part any ninja would understand.

"The first time is usually a trial run to see how much your mind can take, so I will continue until it gives way."

"You mean until I pass out?" Tenten deadpanned.

Ino shifted uncomfortably but nodded in affirmation. Tenten smiled.

"Don't worry, I know this is not very easy for you, but I'm ready when you are." the older woman said gently.

Ino marveled at this. No normal human – let alone ninja – would even entertain the thought of someone mucking around in their head, but here Tenten was all calm and peace _and_ trying to cheer Ino up! The woman's resolve was clearly not something to laugh about.

"Alright, I'll need you to lie down." She said and Tenten went over to her couch and did just what she was asked to do. Clearly, she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

Ino sat next to her head and after a few hand seals, laid her hands on each of Tenten's temples as they began to glow with chakra.

"I'll need you to concentrate on the memory hours before the incident; it will help put me on the right track so I don't end up in your private thoughts. After that, I'll take care of the rest, so let's begin." She said hoping to ease any unvoiced doubts the jounin had.

It was disorienting. Suddenly entering someone else's mind is no joke, but Ino felt the nausea fade as images appeared all around, like an invisible artist was painting them. She saw Team Gai ahead of her and ran to catch up, they would not question her presence as they could not see or feel her – it was only a memory after all.

Ino saw each and everything up till when Neji was scanning for shelter and suddenly everything went black –Tenten had reached her limit. Performing a few seals, she disengaged from the older kunoichi's mind and sat up straight. The blond chunnin blinked when she glanced at the clock: 53 minutes; Tenten really was strong, most people would become unconscious after 30 minutes. She adjusted the weapons' mistress' limp body into a position that was more comfortable and sat back to relax as well, such a long session was truly draining. She would talk to the other ninja when she woke up.

**XXXXXX**

Naruto was beginning to get exasperated; the day was not going as planned. He had woken up early and gone looking for bushy-brow to get a good tai-jutsu training session, but the man was out on a mission. Kiba, Chouji, even Sasuke-teme were all out and Shino had clan business to take care of and even if he didn't, those bugs just creeped Naruto out. The blond shinobi shuddered at the thought; bugs were most certainly not his thing. Sakura-chan was busy at the hospital, Sai was on a week-long mission and even Kakashi-sensei was nowhere to be seen. Of course there was always Neji, but even Naruto was not stupid enough to seek out the Hyuuga. Just that morning, they had passed by each other and the whiskered blond could swear there was homicidal intent rolling of the prodigy – he hadn't even acknowledged the cheerful 'good morning' thrown his way.

Trudging along the street, Naruto found it hard to be his usual cheerful self, all he had wanted was a gruesome and sweaty training session, was that really too much to ask?

"N-Naruto-kun." A soft voice stuttered.

Said person glanced up in surprise and his face broke into a wide grin.

"Hinata-chan!" he practically yelled and the Hyuuga's cheeks turned a deep crimson.

Naruto frowned at this wondering whether he really made her that uncomfortable; she was _always _turning red around him. The blond felt his stomach sink as her whole face suddenly turned an interesting shade of pink – really, did he smell or something? But that wasn't the case – as he soon realized – he was just peering at Hinata far too closely and the poor girl looked like she would break her back as she leaned as far out as she could without falling over.

"Oh," Naruto said as he stepped back, but his face brightened again when he remembered something. Suddenly lunging, he wrapped the startled kunoichi in a hug.

"Hinata-chan, maybe I could have a good session with you! Let's go!" he said rather loudly as he grabbed her hand and began walking off.

Naruto turned back puzzled when he felt at tug. Looking at Hinata, he realized why: she was standing in the same place, her face pale and her eyes rather glazed – as glazed as Hyuuga eyes could look anyway – and her free hand covered her lips partially. She looked like she was going to faint.

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?" he asked in concern.

She looked at him slowly, the glazed look fading away and whispered "N-Naruto-kun, I-I…"

He frowned, obviously she couldn't train with him in such a state, maybe she was recovering from an illness or maybe she was just hungry, or perhaps…wait…hungry? It was then that the blond ninja realized that he was practically starving as well and as luck would have it, it was almost lunch-time.

"I know what would make you feel better, come-on, it's my treat!" he said, this time tugging a little at her arm to get her moving. Ramen always made _him_ feel better; it was like the ultimate medicine. And so, he headed for the Ichiraku ramen stand, Hinata in tow, with the intention of making her feel better. If not with the ramen, then perhaps a trip to the hot-springs – he was suddenly craving a hot bath. Maybe that would put some color back in her face.

**XXXXXX**

Neji walked with purposeful strides toward the Hyuuga compound, he was still not satisfied. After his visit to the Hokage, he had walked to one of the training grounds in the forest with the intention to blow off some steam. 3 hours and 50 splintered trees later, he had not felt very different. Yes the boiling-hot anger had cooled down to a simmer, but he needed to relax more otherwise he would draw too much attention to himself at the compound – and _that_ was never a good thing. The more he thought about it, the worse his control would get and the more people would gape at him because of his unusually _emotional_ state and this just made him want to beat-up everyone who stared at him. Tenten was _his_, no one was meant to touch her; _she_ was _his_! Neji had felt rage before, but never like this. He was furious and shocked but the worst part was he felt like he had let her down…he had not been there to protect her and nothing pierced him more than that. It had been an unspoken promise between them and he had failed to deliver on it. What is one supposed to do when a nightmare comes to life?

Either way, he would have to deal with this as it was, he had no choice anyway. With the way things were going, the prodigy felt Konoha could lose all its trees – courtesy of him – and he still wouldn't be calm. His mouth set in a grim line as he remembered the previous day's events.

After several hours, Tenten had still been sobbing and trembling, though her tears had run-out a long time ago. He had eventually transported both of them to her doorstep, the jutsu had taken quite a bit of chakra as her apartment was rather far, but she had been in no condition to walk and was clinging to him quite firmly. Carrying her had been out of the question as they had to pass through the village center – he would not expose her to others in such a state.

When she eventually realized that they were in her apartment, she had jerked away from him and insisted that she needed to shower; he had let her – what other option did he have anyway? Tenten had spent close to an hour and a half in the bathroom and when she finally came out, her skin had a pink tinge to it, like the water had been too hot or she had scrubbed herself far too hard repeatedly.

Neji had let this go however – though it had irked him considerably – and instead wrapped his arms around her making sure he wasn't touching her bare skin as she had flinched several times whenever he had. Waiting for the weapons' mistress to fall asleep had been futile since she remained trembling but wide awake in his arms. Neji had eventually been forced to apply a small burst of chakra to her spine and another to the base of her skull to ensure that whatever sleep she had fallen into was dreamless. He had spent the night at her place.

Of course this would cause problems at the compound and he would have rushed right over in the morning, but the discussion with the Hokage had been more important. Besides, there was the fact that leaving Tenten alone so early was still plaguing him but she had told him she would be fine and that Ino would be there later-on anyway, then she had smiled.

Neji hated that smile.

It was the same smile she had given him from the time she had come out of her coma, it just hid far too much and he didn't like that. Tenten was suffering and there was nothing he could do, even if there was, she would not let him. It was frustrating.

Entering the compound, he maneuvered through the corridors, heading for his room when a door slid aside, revealing the clan head.

"Neji, a word with you." It was not a request.

"Hai, Hiashi-sama." He replied, wondering what the clan head wanted with him.

**XXXXXX**

A shadow moved silently and smoothly along the dark corridors of the Raikage's building. He was not allowed here anymore, not after his last failure that had cost the village valuable allies and had almost caused a war. He sneered at the thought, the fools had come to him for a strategy but after it failed due to their own incompetence, they thought that they could throw _him_ out and leave him to rot with the trash? Well, they had better think twice.

He came to a stop and after a few hand seals, had a door opened. There was only one little scroll he needed from the room and it would not be missed as such information was no-longer required. The fools! They had no idea what a goldmine the scroll truly was.

The shadow quickly slipped out of the room and disappeared from the building, leaving everything like it had been. Yes, he had been forced to ally himself with fools from the Leaf, but he would soon get what he wanted and the Raikage would acknowledge him. The last attempt had been a failure – again because of the incompetence of those he was working with – but there had been a change of plans. He _would_ get the girl, no doubt about it and this time, she would not be left alive.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N:** I'm not particularly happy with this chapter but after several tries, this was the best one. Yes, there's really not much angst but oh well life's like that. Sometimes it hands you angst, other times it hands you fluff and yet sometimes it leaves you seated on your couch wondering what the heck you are typing. Anyway, you can hope for some twists in the next chapter. Mega thank-you hugs to my beta Lorkie-chan – they are the only ones and only kind she'll ever get from me anyway.

**Review **please; they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside…seriously. (^_^)


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **thank you smiles go to QuietShadowz for constantly reviewing my chapters and of course to my beta, Lorkie-chan. You guys are awesome.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto. If I did, you'd know now wouldn't you?

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 5_

…**even in conflict.**

_Strapped to the wall, she strained against her binds in a futile attempt to gain freedom. _

_Freedom._

_It was a word she no longer understood; in the surreal world she had suddenly been cast in it was an illusion and she felt herself wondering whether it had ever existed. Tears had long fled her, leaving her in an existence without relief from pain. She didn't have any strength left to fight …they had made sure of that._

_The door suddenly opened and slow echoing footsteps made an intrusion into her dark, desolate world. Blindfolded, she bit back a whimper as she recognized _his_ smell. He was the worst of them all; even when all her strength had been sapped by whatever poisons they administered, he would beat her and slash her skin as if the smell of blood – her blood – was an opiate to him. The most unbearable element was his gentleness. He would touch her tenderly, almost reverently and whisper all sorts of words in her ear, then the pain would come as his blade slowly sliced into her skin and he bodily violated her. The screams would tear out of her unbidden and after a while, he would whisper words and make soothing sounds in an attempt to placate her, and the cycle would start again. It would happen over and over again until oblivion claimed her and she would wake up chained to a wall thereafter._

_The excruciating pain between her legs was not receding and she felt utter helplessness as the footsteps got louder. She could almost feel his eyes roving over her body and his mouth suddenly devoured hers, hand fisted in her hair. She was tired and he did not even attempt to get her down from the wall first; her body could not take this much longer. The poisons they constantly fed into her vessels had spent all her energy and there was nothing but bile for her stomach to retch out._

_The first wave of pain hit her as his blade sunk into her thigh and his lips hovered over her stomach. Her back arched and she vaguely wondered how much longer this would last until her mind gave way again. Struggling against the chains, she felt his hand reach out and caress her left hand. He withdrew it and without warning, something came crashing down on her arm so hard, she heard a 'crack' – he had just broken her arm. The resulting pain was unbearable as she tried to lessen the strain on her arm by raising herself up slightly; the movement caused even more pain to sweep through her. No matter how much or how loudly she screamed, there would be no one to come to her aid._

Tenten's eyes suddenly opened and she struggled to sit up. Panting for breath, she scanned her surroundings in an effort to understand where she was and her shoulders sagged in relief as she took in the familiar layout of her room. The kunoichi stood up when she realized she had fallen off her bed and walked to the bathroom. Glancing at herself in the mirror, the female jounin sighed as she took in her pale face and frowned when she noticed she was trembling. Looking down at herself in surprise, she noticed the long darkened scar along her thigh that never healed as well as it should have and she traced a finger along its length.

The dreams had been plaguing her several times every night but for her body to respond in such a manner was appalling, it was weak and she was shamed by it. Shaking her head to get the thoughts out, she walked out of the bathroom but stopped short as yet another unwanted thought slipped into her head. It was one word.

Neji.

How was she going to keep up with him when she was this weak? It was not fair; she had spent most of her life trying to reach him, but now a single event had suddenly pushed her farther away from him than she ever thought possible.

It had been a week since she had inadvertently told him. He had been…gentle…but it still angered her when she saw the looks he gave her, telling her he understood why she did the things she did. When she cried he held her, when she got unnecessarily angry he would listen to her and he never once judged or condemned her. The man never pushed her and let her take her time to heal.

It infuriated her.

Tenten didn't understand why, but she got angry _because _he was doing all the right things. He was so…so…_perfect_ and she-she was the broken girl whom he would help heal. The weapons' mistress though, knew for a fact that if he had instead acted like nothing had happened, she would be just as upset, so _what_ in the world _did_ she want? It was the most frustrating feeling ever because underneath all that, there was the nagging thought that she wasn't good enough for him. That he pitied her somehow even if he never showed it; she was _tainted_ for goodness' sake!

The brunette was jarred out of her thoughts when the clock struck 6.00am and she walked back to the bathroom. All thoughts were thrown out of the proverbial window as she began to prepare herself for the day. Her week of respite was over and she had a mission to oversee, any soul-searching thoughts would have to wait.

**XXXXXX**

Uchiha Sasuke was a man that turned heads wherever he went. Some heads turned because they knew of him and feared or respected him, while others turned because they sensed his aura which was dark and yet powerful; he was a man that commanded attention without so much as a whisper. No matter the reason, the fact remained that people stared at the dark-haired avenger all the time and it was annoying – especially in a village as populated as the Hidden Leaf. He had betrayed his village and allied himself with its most dangerous enemy and while he had completed his punishment – details of which were classified – many civilians and some ninja still saw him as a traitor and treated him as such. So it was for these very reasons that that warm spring morning found him in a quiet secluded meadow few knew about and even fewer visited.

He found himself thinking about his current life and wondering where he was headed. The fact that he was brooding and should probably seek a way out of his dark thoughts never crossed his mind. After-all, Uchihas did _not_ brood.

Evidently, it was inevitable that he should reach this point in life; everyone does. He had achieved his self-appointed goal in life and had even worked with several teams to kill Madara, so the obvious question was 'what next?' By his own hand, he had become the last of the Uchiha clan and he wondered how he would restore the strength and honor of his family. He knew however that it was because he was _the_ last Uchiha that the death-penalty for missing ninja had not been applied to him. The village wanted the clan to thrive again, but this was easier said than done considering he was rarely – if ever – in the company of girls. He liked it that way.

Most females were avid admirers of his and made no secret about it. It was so bad that the moment the public learned he had returned to the village –which was a month later – several girls had stormed the Hokage building and he was forced to use Naruto as a decoy so he could get away, clothes intact and all. The dobe had been in need of medical attention after but it had served the purpose of shutting him up, if only for a while.

Sasuke smirked at this but a frown quickly appeared as thoughts of his other teammate invaded his mind. Sakura was acting…strange – there was no other word for it – of late. She was the only girl to get as close to him as she did but her unwanted attentions had irritated him and he had made no secret of that. But after he returned, she had been almost…normal around him until he begun to notice the admiring looks she would give him and the faint blushes on her face when he talked to her and just when he had made up his mind that she would never change, she suddenly stopped. Now, she almost seemed to avoid him and had dropped the affectionate honorific she used to add to his name. He was just plain 'Sasuke' or 'Uchiha-san' when she was working and this did not make him flinch or regretful in any way. Nope, not one bit.

He forcibly pushed these thoughts out of his mind and purposely mused about something else. There was not much to look forward to and even the sparring matches with the dobe were getting rather routine, he needed to get out of this rut. A thought suddenly occurred to him and he smiled.

Training with the Hyuuga was not such a bad idea, and maybe, just maybe he might get to permanently scar the smug ice-cube of a man. It was not a bad idea at all.

The white-eyed freak seemed comfortable of recent and Sasuke was amused by this. If rumors were right – or more accurately, if Shikamaru was right – then Neji had found himself a _special_ someone or a special weapons' mistress to be exact. He remembered Tenten, she had been there when he had first met the Hyuuga icicle and had looked at him like she was amused by his manner toward Neji. It had almost been like she was thinking 'cute' and Sasuke bristled at this; _'cute'_ was not a word to describe him.

It seemed almost everyone was miles ahead of him and he didn't like the feeling. Konoha had recovered from all the wars she had faced and even Tsunade had awoken from her coma after the battle with Pain to lead the village once more. The village was strong and as sappy as it sounded, the 'Will of Fire' was still burning brightly. He had that will within him and he _would_ recover eventually. After-all, he _was_ Uchiha Sasuke.

**XXXXXX**

Hiashi's people-skills were… well…they left a lot to be desired and that is probably why it took ages for his own daughters to feel comfortable in his presence. Hinata had most certainly ascertained her worth and so most of the council elders had insisted she fight her sister in a formal challenge. The shy princess had proven she was superior hands down and she was currently hand in glove with her father to strengthen the clan – though of course there were some things that were kept from her, prestigious clans tend to be like that. It was therefore a great nuisance when the elders learnt of Hinata's affections for the Kyuubi-vessel and they were getting more agitated with each thought of how this was disadvantageous to the clan.

Uzumaki was most certainly a commendable ninja and had helped save the village numerous times, but he had no clan, was in league with the Uchiha-traitor and word had it that he was not the sharpest tool in the shed. He would _not_ do for a patriarch. Though the clan-heir was given the privilege of choosing his/her spouse, the person had to be well connected and able to lead the clan; this definitely cut out Uzumaki Naruto.

They would have to find a way of stopping this before it went too far. An ultimatum was the best idea; either Hinata marries according to their standards or she forfeits any claim to the Hyuuga name and that had its own dire consequences – they would not just leave a byakugan unprotected. It was rather harsh but the girl would not realize it was not a real threat. She was gullible after all; at least that's what _they_ thought.

Elsewhere, Hinata felt a shiver run down her spine and wondered why, after-all she had a mission with Naruto-kun. The man had been bugging the Hokage for a mission and she had eventually conceded, but that didn't mean it was the kind of mission he had wanted. Tsunade-sama had cunningly given them an escort mission for a noble-man to the Country of Snow. Hinata, with her byakugan, was the best for the mission as she could see an attack coming from all sides and could prepare accordingly. She would have been paired with 2 chunnin but Naruto's incessant complaints had made the Godaime snap and she had put him on the next available mission – which happened to be hers. Two jounin were more than enough but she had added a twist by making Hinata team-leader which had made the shy Hyuuga turn several shades of red in mortification, but her Naruto-kun had taken it all in stride. He was happy he was finally getting something to do.

The mission would take at-least a week thus giving the Godaime a respite from Naruto-kun's…uh, demands and though Hinata was not sure her nerves could survive Naruto-kun's proximity for such a long time, she was ready to help him in any way she could. He was strong and admirable in her eyes and she would gladly spend any time of her day with him. So the dark-haired Hyuuga continued packing, completely oblivious to the schemes involving her that were swirling in the elders' heads.

**XXXXXX**

The sun was making its descent over the horizon, making everything its light touched seem ethereal and golden; it was absolutely breathtaking. Tenten however did not even glance at her surroundings, no matter how beautiful and she made a beeline for her apartment. The mission had not gone well at all and she needed to get home as soon as possible; the mission report would have to wait.

By the time she was unlocking the door, the moon was out and it bathed the cherry-blossom petals that glided on the wind in a white light, making them have a soft glow. She paid this no mind and instead scrambled out of her clothes as she rushed toward the bathroom. The brunette did not have any grime on her but for some reason she felt unclean, tainted, _dirty_…she needed to scrub the smell and feeling away. So, after setting the bath, Tenten got in and proceeded to scrub her skin with such ferocity that it felt like it was peeling off with the force, but she could not stop. The brown-haired kunoichi rubbed as hard as she could for what felt like hours until the water became cold, but the feeling of unwanted touch would not go away.

Finally giving up, she stood and headed for her bedroom. She needed a way to forget what had happened, it was affecting everything she did and the mission had gone horribly wrong as a result. She needed relief and she needed it fast, but how…who would help…?

She stopped for a moment as a name came to mind. Yes, if not him then no one could ever help her. She needed him soon otherwise she would go crazy; only one person could free her from the state of impurity she was stuck in. So the weapons' mistress sat huddled on her bed, trying to still the trembling as she waited for him.

**XXXXXX**

Neji had had a trying day. His uncle was keeping a close eye on him of late, like he was a child. At first, he had thought it had something to do with the night not spent at the compound a week ago and the talk they'd had the next day, but he was beginning to doubt the theory. Hiashi-sama was keeping _too_ close an eye on him and it gave him a foreboding feeling. Tenten had been out all day on a mission and though she was to comeback in the evening, it had meant that he didn't have someone to spend his free-day with – a rare opportunity for any ninja. The Hyuuga had tried to get the details of the mission from Shikamaru, but the lazy jounin had told him in no uncertain terms that it was none of his business. This had been surprising seeing how the shadow-user was not usually so secretive and Neji had interpreted it to mean that he would not like the nature of the mission at all. He had then later found out that the ANBU major was considering Uchiha Sasuke – of all people – for captain. Add to this the fact that his cousin was going on a week-long mission with Naruto – an idiotic but fully grown red-blooded and hormonal male – one would begin to understand the prodigy's stress.

The ANBU captain walked to Tenten's apartment with purposeful strides, hoping that he would find her there – what with the way things were going, she might have eloped with some idiotic civilian. Shaking his head to get the disturbing thought out, he knocked at her door and tried the handle when there was no answer.

It was unlocked.

Frowning, he opened the door and walked in, quickly scanning the room for any sign of a break-in and finding none. Tenten used to have the habit of leaving her door unlocked all the time, until Neji had talked some sense into her. So he was completely surprised to note she was nowhere to be found – at-least in the living room – and yet her door was unlocked, though looking at his face, one could hardly tell. The Hyuuga prodigy walked to her bedroom door, knocked and called out her name.

He didn't really expect her to be home, so he was taken aback when the door was flung open and Tenten rushed out to engulf him in a tight embrace. His face though, was still as blank as ever, showing only a slight raising of the eyebrows.

"Neji…" she breathed shakily

"Tenten," he whispered back, tightening his arms around her when he noticed she was trembling slightly. She was touching him voluntarily and though he was surprised at this, he wasn't going to complain. Neji had missed her touch for two whole weeks and when she had returned, she would always flinch at his. Needless to say, he had grown tired of this – even if he knew the reason why – and would take anything he got, no matter how abrupt.

"I-I need you," Tenten whispered and Neji frowned slightly.

"What happened?" he asked, tightening his hands further, but her answer was to pull back and kiss him suddenly.

Neji blinked. The touch had been nice; however, a kiss seemed far too sudden but still, _he_ wasn't going to complain. He had missed this far too much.

Tenten kissed Neji hungrily. Yes, the touch made her feel some revulsion, but she pushed all musings to the back of her mind just maintaining the thought that _this_ was Neji, _he_ was here and she had finally figured out what she needed him for. The weapons' mistress almost sighed as she felt his hands thread through her hair, tipping her head back to deepen the kiss and she slowly relaxed in the familiarity of the touch. She would soon get used to this and hopefully all memories of others' touches and smells would fade.

Neji was surprised with the haste that Tenten was kissing and touching him. Their kisses were usually slow and intimate, but this was fast-paced and felt almost desperate. These thoughts were rushing through his head with the swiftness of the wind and he didn't mind, after-all, he too was a fully grown red-blooded male and he was in need of some things. He gasped and felt his muscles clench as Tenten slipped her hand under his shirt and gently passed it over his stomach and a heat started growing within him. It was at the same time though, that he felt a small voice say at the back of his head that this was not right.

The soft caresses she felt on her cheek soothed the burning sensation of her skin caused by the hard scrubbing and Tenten felt utter peace when she felt him gasp at her touch. He did not reject her, so she decided to reveal herself to him.

"_You would never let anything happen to me."_

Neji stiffened slightly at the memory but chose to ignore it as he broke off the kiss and buried his head in her neck. That she would allow him to be this intimate with her so soon was all he could think of at the moment and he was grateful, so he started kissing her neck succeeding in drawing a satisfied sigh out of her.

"_I trust you…"_

The prodigy paused again. The voice at the back of his head was starting to nag him and it was getting louder. Why now, why did these memories have to pop-up at that particular moment? He chose to ignore them again and return to his…ministrations.

"…_I would never blame you for _anything._"_

At this point, Neji stopped and drew away from her. He noticed for the first time that she was wearing a yukata and was beginning to unfasten it. His eyes widened and he grasped her hands.

"What are you doing?" he asked, panting slightly.

Tenten was jarred out of her dazed world as she realized he hadn't known what her objectives were all along. Did she really have to spell it out for him? They were both adults and she not only wanted him but _needed_ him as well. Needed him to free her.

"I-I need you," she replied, not caring whether her voice cracked or whether her cheeks turned red.

Neji was stunned. There his girlfriend stood, dressed loosely in a yukata, face flushed, with swollen lips saying she _needed_ him. He bit back a groan as the heat within him increased by several degrees and was seriously tempted to fully indulge himself. But the white-eyed jounin was slowly gaining back his reasoning – now that he wasn't engaged in a feverish kiss – and he knew that this was not right, not for her.

"Tenten…"

"Please Neji," she cut him off as she took a step toward him and wrapped her hands around his neck.

She cupped his cheek and tiptoed to kiss him again but his hands moved to grasp her shoulders gently, effectively stopping her. Tenten opened her eyes in confusion, wondering why he would stop her but his eyes were devoid of emotion and she couldn't read a single thing from his countenance.

"We had an understanding…about _this_," he said gently but firmly.

Tenten felt her face heat up at the soft reprimand; the situation was getting rather awkward and she had to rectify it. The sensation of unwanted touch by unfamiliar hands had begun to recede when Neji touched her and she had felt like drowning herself in the heat created thereafter. The brunette did not want to admit it but his touch, though wanted, still made her feel revulsion and she didn't understand this. He was not like the other men and she badly wanted to be held by him but her body would have a negative reaction each time he tried.

As if on cue, she began trembling as the thoughts of his touch filled her mind. Why was this happening to her, why couldn't she just relax in the arms of the one she loved? Tears sprung into her eyes in accordance with the sudden ache in her chest. Maybe she could steel herself and stop the trembling long enough for him to claim her as his…many men had claimed her but she didn't want to be left tainted by them. She needed to be purified by him, couldn't he understand that?

"Neji, I-I need this. Please, I need _you_," she said, emphasizing her statement, hoping he would pick what she meant…she just couldn't say it in words.

Neji's eyes widened at her statement. He finally understood her implications but ended up wishing he didn't. She wanted him to take her as his, there and then so she could at-least try to forget what had been done to her before; he understood. The only problem though, was that her reasoning was flawed.

Tenten was not nearly ready to be _that_ intimate with him, or any other man for that matter. She needed to first heal before they did anything even though this would take quite some time; a fractured mind or spirit took longer to heal than a broken body. If he ignored this and indulged himself, he would serve to break her more as she would eventually realize that it wasn't love on her part that made her want to do this, it was the feeling that she had no option left. Even if it was for completely different reasons, it would eventually come down to the same thing: that he would have violated her. It would kill him to watch the woman he loved agonize over the fact that _he_ had done the same thing her violators had…he just couldn't do it.

"Tenten, this is not right. Not for you…not right now," he said, knowing he was embarrassing her but hoping she would understand his reasons for he could not bring himself to say them out loud.

The weapons' mistress felt a jolt of shock layered with hurt pass through her. He had just rejected her. _Neji_ had _rejected_ her and with this realization, she felt something akin to anger begin to stir within her.

"W-why?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"I don't know…I just can't," he replied as he took his hands off her shoulders and stepped away from her.

Tenten was beginning to lose control of her emotions; it had been that way for a while and it puzzled her. She used to have an iron grip on her them and would let them show only when she wanted to but that was not the case at the moment. Shock, pain and shame were stirring within but anger was quickly rising to overshadow them. She didn't need it…she needed to stay in control in order to listen to his reasons with a clear mind, but her control was breaking and the trembling was becoming more obvious.

"You don't know?" she asked incredulously. "Am I not good enough for you?"

Neji's eyebrows shot up at this. Why was she going in that particular direction?

"Tenten, you know that's not true."

She flinched at the confused and questioning tone in his voice; he was wondering why she was bringing that up again seeing as to how he had worked hard to prove to her that she was enough for him. Even though she felt guilty about it, her anger was still rising at an incredible rate and it quickly squashed the former feeling.

"I don't know anything anymore Neji. You won't touch me let alone kiss me, and now when I truly need you, you step away from me like I'm filthy." She was being petty she knew, but the scathing shame and growing anger in her could not be ignored.

"We had an agreement on this matter, remember?" he snapped. Tenten was being unreasonable and the strains of the day coupled with the immediate situation were making him rather impatient.

"Situations and opinions change Neji; you of all people should know that. And don't talk to me like I'm a child," she said, a warning tone creeping into her voice.

"Then stop acting like one."

Oh, _that_ was it!

"Not everyone can be as perfect as you, Hyuuga. Whatever measures you use for yourself cannot apply to anyone else especially me, so don't you_ dare_ judge me," she said, her voice beginning to rise.

"I did no such thing, stop being unreasonable," he said, exasperation showing in his voice.

"Don't patronize me! I'm not inferior to you, so don't treat me like I am. I know what's best for me, you don't. You cannot waltz in here and tell me that what I want is wrong, you don't know how it feels like!" Tenten almost yelled as she began panting while blinking back tears. The emotions were rising up in her chest and she beginning to feel suffocated.

Neji's control was also beginning to snap, even prodigies had their breaking point. He had endured a lot on her behalf and frustration had become his constant companion yet he had no outlet for it. All he had done was try to understand her pain – a feat for him – and she was acting like he had rubbed it in that she had been raped.

"You're not the only one who has been affected by this Tenten," he said

"Yeah right," she said and he narrowed his eyes.

"You flinch from me every time I reach out to you and you refuse to trust me with whatever goes on in your head every time you shiver. I have tried to understand what you're going through, the least you could do is acknowledge that," he said, his voice taking on a dangerous tone.

"You could never possibly understand this pain, disgrace, rejection…you act like you're perfect and I'm the tainted girl who deserves your pity…then you come here and when I reach out to you, you turn away from me…"

"By your logic then, should I assume that _you_ deem me inferior seeing as to how you are evidently repulsed by my touch?" Neji cut her off, his tone cutting and his eyes hard and unforgiving. She had taken it too far.

"That's not fair," she said as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

The ANBU captain felt his anger quell at this and wanted to reach out to her but his pride kept him in place, though he decided to be silent lest he makes the situation worse.

"I don't have to be constantly reminded of what happened," she said brokenly. Every time he was close to her, she would remember everything. With him around, she could not just push it to the back of her head and because of this her emotions would come out sharp and raw.

"Tenten," he said, taking a step toward her but she stretched her arm out to stop him.

"E-every time I'm around you, the memories…they come back to me…I feel pathetic and I…" she trailed off as tears continued streaming down.

Surprise and confusion invaded Neji's emotions. Was she saying it was _his_ fault?

"Tenten, the blame for this cannot be put upon me. Perhaps before you _incriminate_ me you should look elsewhere," he said before he knew what he was doing. Of course, Neji soon realized what he had implied and tried to take it back but it was too late, Tenten was already staring at him in shock.

"Are you saying that it's _my _fault? Do you think that it's my weakness that got me raped?"

"I did not say that," he said, stunned by her last sentence.

"You didn't have to!" she snapped. "I-I don't know if I can do this anymore."

"What are you talking about?" he asked as an apprehensive feeling started rising within him.

"_This_. I don't think I can be with you anymore; you make it seem like I'm not worthy of you."

"We've been through this before Tenten…"

"I know, but it's never changed," she cut him off suddenly feeling drained. "Look, I need to be left alone for a while."

"I'm not leaving without an explanation. If the relationship is failing, then it cannot be my fault entirely."

"There you go again, saying it's my fault. I'm not taking this anymore, Get out!" she was starting to yell.

Neji just blinked at her.

"I said get out Hyuuga!" this got a reaction from him but he still didn't budge. If he didn't get out soon, she was going to start pulling weapons. For goodness' sake she needed to be left alone, why couldn't he get it into his thick skull?

"Out!" this time she did yell and he narrowed his eyes.

"Very well, but do not expect me to comeback if I leave now."

"I don't need you," she said with all the confidence she could muster.

Neji turned around without another word and walked out of the front door. He didn't bang it but its click rang throughout the house and Tenten shuddered at the finality of its echo.

What had she done?

Not able to think anymore, she walked to her room in a daze and sank into a corner. The unwanted sensations were returning and her trembling had gotten worse. She didn't even bother to wipe away the tears as the ache within her chest threatened to suffocate her and the pain of shame and rejection washed over her. The weapons' mistress did not cry with soft sounds as many women did; her sobs were so gut-wrenching that she was bent over her knees, one hand on the floor supporting her torso, the other clutching at her stomach. The tears fell to the floor in torrents and her breath came in shallow gasps.

The moon did not shine its silver light on her through the window. Rather, it left her in the darkness with nothing to lessen her sorrow and no one to comfort her but the silent room she was in which was strangely muffling her sobs.

Not even Neji heard her as he stood outside her door in silent regret.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N:** oh wow, finally done with this chapter. I always thought that any relationship Neji ever got in would have its main problems based on miscommunication, since he speaks only when he deems it necessary. This is the reason why people pair him with Tenten who seems to understand him…but I think there's a limit to how much one can know another person, so problems are bound to occur if communication is not solid.

Now, people should understand that rape is not an easy thing to get over for both the victim and her/his friends. Most people write that all that's needed for the victim to recover is to receive love from her/his beloved. This is only half true, love is key but the victim usually doesn't want it or doesn't know how to receive it and this leads to the frustration of both parties. I tried to exploit this in the chapter, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

But enough of that. Thank you everyone for your support and I ask that you **review**, but leave me a few compliments as well please. (^_^)


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** clearly Naruto does not belong to me; else it would be called Minato.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 6_

…**even in uncertainty.**

The sun had just begun to rise, emitting those eerie yet beautiful rays upon the earth before its light turned golden. The air was still crisp and cold but that was changing rapidly as the sun's rays changed from a cold light to warm waves that made the Hyuuga princess smile as she tilted her head up to receive them. She never thought a day would come when she would actually be apprehensive about spending time with Naruto-kun. The shy jounin had reason to be nervous though; this was not just a day, but a whole week spent with her crush with no one to talk to but him – she knew from experience that most noblemen travelled in carriages and would not talk to any escorts, especially ninja. Her smile remained though because she knew this was a chance for her to get to know better the man she had admired most of her life. It was what most people would call a 'golden opportunity.'

Hinata stepped out of the Hyuuga compound and headed for the forest. It was not her rendezvous point with Naruto, but she wanted to see Neji nii-san before leaving seeing as to how she hadn't seen him the day before and he was nowhere to be seen at the compound, so she hadn't told him about her mission. The prodigy was a guardian of sorts to her – assigned by the clan – but above all, he was her nii-san and she only deemed it proper that he as well should know about her long mission, along with the rest of her family. She reached the clearing he was wont to practice from and spotted Tenten, but the ANBU captain was nowhere to be seen.

"Hinata," Tenten said a hint of steel in her tone.

"Good-morning Tenten-san," she said a little hesitantly, taken aback by the older kunoichi's manner.

"Good-morning. What can I do for you?" the weapons' mistress asked.

Hinata felt her face flush in embarrassment at this. It was an innocent enough question, very polite, but the cold way the other ninja had asked it made it seem like she was practically shouting 'what do you want?' The weapons' mistress had also never been this impatient with her, so this display made Hinata wonder what was wrong.

"Ano, I was looking for Neji nii-san. I-I thought he might be h-here," the shy jounin said, her face becoming more crimson as Tenten raised a perfect eyebrow at her slight stutter.

"No, he's not. What do you want with _him_ anyway?" Tenten asked.

Hinata realized with slightly widened eyes that this was probably one of those times she should run as fast as she could and worry about the consequences later, but she just couldn't do it. Tenten-san was exuding a venomous aura and her voice had been filled with bitterness when she referred to Neji nii-san. It was at that point that Hinata noticed the other kunoichi's red-rimmed eyes with dark circles underneath; it looked like she had been crying the whole night. Suddenly, things seemed to make more sense. This could have something to do with her cousin; it would explain so many things, like Tenten's anger, her appearance and _his_ disappearance. They might have had an argument or something; it was none of her business but…

"Tenten-san, are you alright?"

This was _not_ the right question to ask.

"You Hyuuga, always sticking your noses where they're not wanted. Yes I'm fine, in-fact I'm _great_. Can't you see that o great body-language reading one?" she snapped in reply, completely forgetting that she had asked a question earlier.

Needless to say, Hinata was greatly surprised and she took a few steps back as a result, her eyes widening further at the cutting tone in the brunette's voice. The argument the two had must have been something; this was not the usual Tenten.

"I-I'm s-sorry. I…"

"You what?" Tenten asked, cutting her off. "Didn't think before speaking? I don't need your pity Hinata."

"I w-was just t-t-trying to…" the Hyuuga heiress tried to say but was cutoff abruptly again.

"Don't even try to defend yourself. You come here into my personal space and interrupt my training to look for your _idiotic_ cousin. You're wasting my time," the older kunoichi hissed, taking a step toward the female Hyuuga with each sentence.

Hinata on the other hand, kept taking steps backwards until she tripped over a root and landed on her backside. She looked up at Tenten warily and decided that perhaps she should extract herself from the situation as delicately as she could.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly, though she was sure the other kunoichi had heard.

Standing up quickly, the shy Hyuuga bowed, turned in the opposite direction and left. It was rather rude to leave like that but perhaps what Tenten needed was sometime alone to compose herself…though what on earth had happened between those two was beyond her. It seemed like the brunette harbored some kind of grudge with the Hyuuga; _what_ had happened? She picked up her pace knowing if she didn't hurry up, she would be late for her rendezvous with Naruto-kun.

If the Hyuuga heiress had bothered to look back, she would have seen a mortified Tenten whose eyes had widened as if she had just realized what she had done. The weapons' mistress clenched her hands and turned back to continue her training; what the heck was wrong with her? One look at Hinata and her Hyuuga eyes had been enough to have the previous fight with Neji come rushing back into her head and along with it, the emotional turmoil she had experienced. It wasn't fair to the girl and Tenten made a mental note to apologize to her later. She couldn't stand pushing her friends away unfairly…the way she had pushed Neji away.

**XXXXXX**

Sakura stared at the dark-haired man seating opposite her and couldn't believe her luck. She was on a date with the most handsome and brilliant man she worked with, and it was…irritating. The man just couldn't stop talking about himself and had the vain impression that every woman wanted him – and of course the mewling nurses at the hospital were not helping. Granted, he was the hospital's best doctor, but he was still a jerk.

The medical ninja had accepted his invitation with a genuine interest in getting to know him. She thought that her unwanted affection for Sasuke would subside if she decided to give other men a chance and who better to experiment with than the hottest doctor around. Yes, he was a civilian, but it was a start. Many civilians were interested in the medical field and just because they couldn't use chakra to heal didn't mean that they couldn't treat, heck most medical ninja learned part of what they knew from normal doctors. Besides, the man clearly had good taste if he had set his eyes on her.

This opinion was quickly crushed a few minutes into the date as the man's ego got so inflated, that it seemed to fill up the room. He also wouldn't stop talking about all the women who had expressed interest in him and he made sure Sakura knew just how _lucky_ she was for being there, seated across from him. The poor self-deluded man was taking her blank stare as an adoring gaze and made a comment about how they belonged together because they were both beautiful people. Sakura chuckled darkly to herself, trying to keep her cool as she imagined all the painful ways to get the man to shut-up.

Eventually, when they were done, he insisted on escorting her back home and Sakura could not find any grounds on which to reject his offer – unfortunately. Before they reached her door, he spun suddenly, catching her off-guard and pinned her to the wall bringing his lips close to her ear.

"I never thought kunoichi could be so soft, supple and desirable," he whispered, bringing his hand up to stroke her cheek.

On her part, Sakura was gritting her teeth as she fought the urge to punch him or kick him hard in the crotch like her inner-self was screaming. It wouldn't do for her to injure the man for doing something he thought she would like – no matter how imbecilic his actions were. Truth be told, most women would have found it pleasing to be pinned to a wall by a gorgeous man but she found it revolting, especially with _this_ man.

His hand moved up her arm with a feather-light touch and she resisted the shudder that threatened to overcome her. Not able to take it anymore, the pink-haired kunoichi slammed her fist into the wall behind her, creating a hole as the debris fell down.

"Let me say it in a way you will understand. Step away from me or I will _break _your jaw."

The man froze at her hissed threat and wisely stepped away from her, showing he wasn't so stupid after-all. He looked at her in confusion, mouth open to say something, but it quickly shut as he glanced at her deathly glare. It would have been more convincing in the dark of the night with her eyes gleaming, but she had to make do with what she had; besides, he looked pretty scared anyway. It seemed her reputation of brute-force was spreading.

Sakura smirked, unknowingly looking like a certain lightning-natured shinobi and walked away. She vaguely wondered whether the 'good doctor' would be able to get home without anyone noticing the wet patch at the crotch of his trousers, or the smell of urine on his person.

**XXXXXX**

The very idea of fate or destiny is disconcerting to some because it embodies the concept that we are not in control of our own lives. Neji was not among the people who fretted about this because he had stopped having that perception years ago. There were times however, when he relapsed and wondered whether fate really did exist; this was one of those times.

Seated in his uncle's office, he was trying to contain the shock and anger that were threatening to overcome his cool composure. At times like these, the Hyuuga prodigy wondered whether he was ever meant to be happy; things just seemed to go wrong every time he got comfortable. First Tenten had torn his heart apart with a few phrases and now, there his uncle sat, telling him he had six months to pick a Hyuuga bride while looking for all the world like he was talking about the weather.

Neji had come to learn that his uncle did not seek his destruction – though it had been a hard concept to accept – and so he had begun to almost trust the man, but now he was beginning to regret this. The young ANBU captain felt frustration build up in him as his uncle emphasized the fact that he had no choice in the matter.

"With all due respect Hiashi-sama, it had been my intention to choose a spouse who was not part of the clan," he said, hoping his uncle could not pick-up on the doubt filling his voice.

The prodigy had long since known that there could never be anyone else for him other than Tenten but now…now, he was not so sure. She clearly did not want him anywhere near her and that pierced him deeper than he thought it would. The pain and frustration was overwhelming and he had not slept at all the night before, so he hoped Hiashi-sama would not notice the bags under his eyes or his overly stiff posture. Neji could tell that he was exhibiting subtle signs of inner turmoil, stress and discomfiture but try as he could, he could not completely disguise the fatigue in his eyes or the slight droop of his shoulders. Tenten had really done a number on him.

It was clear enough however, – even though Hiashi-sama had not mentioned it – that this was a decision made primarily by the Hyuuga council elders. They had the clan's best interest at heart but most dealt with the clan business in a way most members did not agree with and there was little anyone could do about it. It truly was hard to think of them as family. Hiashi-sama stared at him, his expression indecipherable and Neji fought the urge to fidget.

"You are talking about the weapons' mistress." It was not a question.

Neji felt his stomach tighten painfully at this and tried not to show it on his face. He didn't know what to say…truth be told he still cared greatly for Tenten but she didn't want him so he could not propose her name but hell would freeze over first before he married someone he did not care for. On top of all this, he didn't really know where he stood with her as at that point in time. Yes, she had broken up with him but did that mean that he could not talk to her thereafter? The ANBU captain looked at his uncle knowing the man would speak when ready. He would usually take his time and people who were not used to him would feel unnerved; it was an intimidating tactic to say the least, but it was not the only one.

"She is not a fitting wife for you. Women who marry into our clan must be of noble birth or must have a strong lineage to support them. This woman does not have any tangible roots in the village and shows every sign of being a foreigner. As one of Konoha's oldest and most noble clans, it would be a disgrace to allow one such as her to join us," Hiashi said without batting an eyelid.

The prodigy resisted the urge to clench his fists. The insinuation that Tenten was below the Hyuuga's social standard was eating at him but he knew that most of the family believed such notions about several people. He couldn't help but wonder whether he too expressed this ideology in his actions…maybe that's what Tenten had been talking about. Nevertheless, he could not just sit there and have her character downplayed like that.

"I was under the impression that house heads had the privilege of choosing their spouses," he said.

"That is true seeing as to how you're the next head of the branch house. However, it has been decided that a byakugan as strong as yours must be protected at all costs and so we cannot afford to have it weakened," the clan head replied after eyeing him for a moment.

Despite all his attempts not to, Neji narrowed his eyes at the veiled insult. That was _enough_! As much as she had practically kicked him out of her life, he still felt affronted by what his uncle had just said.

"A kunoichi of Tenten's ability would not _weaken_ the byakugan in any way. She is loyal to the Leaf, has a flawless record and has been awarded the title 'master' as a result of her accomplishments with weaponry. Her lack of a venerable lineage is advantageous as there will be no inherited features or blood-line traits to conflict with the byakugan, hence reproducing it in complete purity. Adding to this her innate prowess with weaponry, any progeny would have an edge on the normal Hyuuga child." Neji was sure this was one of the longest speeches he had ever made to the clan head and knew it had bordered on rudeness, but he didn't care. He would not let anyone look down on Tenten, not while he was still breathing.

Hiashi's eyebrows rose and a strange look flickered in his eyes at Neji's bold vocalizations. He almost seemed to be pleased that his nephew had just stood up to him.

"You make a strong argument Neji; however, have you considered the consequences of marrying this woman? Any offspring would be branded with the branch-house seal; a bane to all women who marry into the branch house."

The ANBU captain looked up at the almost gentle and understanding tone in his uncle's voice. He too was sure Tenten would hate having the caged-bird seal on her children's foreheads.

"It is difficult for outsiders to understand our ways, so it would be easier for everyone, yourself included, to marry a Hyuuga and you must make your decision within six months. Letting her go is the best choice you can make right now. This matter shall be discussed no further." With this, Hyuuga Hiashi stood, leaving his surprised nephew to deal with his emotions in one of the most private rooms in the Hyuuga compound.

**XXXXXX**

Ino was most certainly not in a good mood. The sun was a little too hot for her liking, she'd had a restless night and as if that wasn't bad enough, the experience she'd just had might make her a permanent insomniac. The blond kunoichi was walking from Tenten's apartment having just completed the second memory scan. It was better to have the sessions once a week so as not to put both their bodies under excessive stress. Ino did not want to over exert the other woman so she had reduced the time to about forty minutes, but what she had seen alone was enough to guarantee her several sleepless nights.

Tenten's memories were appalling to say the least and they were too vivid for Ino's comfort, suggesting that the weapons' mistress would occasionally ponder on them, or they would visit her in form of nightmares. Memories usually faded with time if they were left untouched, but these made her feel like she had actually been there. The experience had been rather terrifying for her as she watched the torture process and now, she finally understood why her dad had been hesitant in teaching her the technique. The blond chuunin resisted the urge to shudder and was suddenly glad for the heat of the sun. One thing for sure was that these sessions had heightened the respect she felt for the older kunoichi; one needed an incredible amount of strength and the utmost control to be able to move on with such recollections plaguing their thoughts.

The notion that someone could go through so much and yet look so normal had bewildered her but when she tried to comfort Tenten, she had been brushed off. What does one tell a torture victim anyway; 'sorry you got tortured but cheer up, it could have been worse?' Ino felt totally useless and her frustration had built up to the point that she felt she was going to burst if she didn't let it out. The chuunin knew _exactly_ who she was going to let her frustration out on. Her lips set in a grim line as determination filled her face and she marched towards the one training ground she knew the genius shinobi could be found. But as she neared, she felt her resolve falter and nervousness began to set in. Maybe she could do this some other time, or perhaps he wasn't there; he could have skipped training…ha!_ Fat chance…._

"What is it you want Yamanaka Ino?"

The question cut through her thoughts and she froze mid-stride. It was asked with an emotionless voice that did not express any irritation or curiosity but for some reason, this made her even more uneasy. She looked at the ninja seated before her in the meditating position, eyes closed. She felt her determination increasing, but it weakened again as his eyes opened suddenly, austere silver meeting brilliant azure.

"Good afternoon Neji…I just wanted to talk to you. You know…" she trailed off, not sure what to say anymore since her mouth was suddenly dry.

He raised a perfect eyebrow in question and Ino found herself shrinking inside. She wondered briefly whether he felt offended by her familiarity with him, maybe she should have called him 'Hyuuga-san' or something. Her frustration was forgotten as she stared into the bored silver eyes of the ANBU captain and she suddenly felt like fleeing. She most certainly couldn't do this.

"What is it?" he asked again when she didn't say anything else.

"It's about Tenten," she replied, deciding to cut to the chase.

Neji did not show any reaction, rather, he just kept staring at her with the same gaze waiting for her to continue. And so Ino began the short speech she had put together in the small period of time her frustration had disappeared. She didn't want to make it seem like she was wasting his time and had come unprepared.

"She's…not well and I was wondering whether you knew. Maybe you could…go see what's wrong and…"

"She can take care of herself." He cut her off, closing his eyes once more.

Ino stared at him; was that a _dismissal_? She was beginning to get offended at his casual yet arrogant manner, as if he expected her to skitter off like a squirrel simply because he thought what she had to say was unimportant.

"Um, actually I was thinking that maybe you could comfort her, she really seems to need it…and because you are closer to her than most I thought…" she trailed off. Why couldn't the words get out? Tenten was in a bad state and _he,_ as her boyfriend, should do something about it. It was simple enough, but why couldn't she say it?

Neji rose from his position and opened his eyes to look at her, slight irritation showing at her persistence.

"Thank you for your concern, but this is not a situation you should be involved in. I know my teammate better that you do, so to put it simply: this is none of your business." He said this very calmly and turned around to walk off.

_What_? Here she was trying to show some concern for _his_ girlfriend and he told her to buzz-off? Ino's frustration was now mixing with rapidly rising anger and she found herself shouting something she would never have said to a Hyuuga on _any_ day:

"You idiot!"

"What did you call me?" he asked as he spun around to face her, his eyes narrowed. Well, at-least that got a reaction out of him.

"You heard me. Just who do you think you are anyway? This _is_ my business because I'm involved in it. How do you think I got to know she was not well in the first place?" she asked, trying to calm herself down as her eyes narrowed as well.

"Do not get yourself involved in situations your mind cannot grasp," was his simple reply.

Ok, that was _it_! If he thought she was just going to stand there and let him insult her, he had another think coming. The man had just implied she was simple-minded, just what was it she could not _grasp_ that he could anyways?

"Don't talk to me like that, I'm not as clueless as you are! Do you even know what happened to her?" Ino snapped, suddenly wanting to punch him in the face but knowing there was no way she could, he was an ANBU.

"If you're referring to her capture, then yes, I know. This, however, is not information that should be discussed openly. I would expect you to know that Yamanaka-_san_," Neji replied, his voice mocking and yet low with a threatening quality to it.

Ino fought the urge to step back at his suddenly intimidating aura; she had a point to get across.

"That's not all! Did you even talk to her about her mission yesterday? She was a complete mess afterwards and yet here you stand all tall and mighty while she is in extreme pain in her apartment, _alone_!" she could not help the shouting; it was just coming out that way.

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked, his eyes narrowing further.

Ino blinked and stared at him. She felt a slight sense of satisfaction at the fact that she knew something the smug idiot didn't but it was easily overshadowed by the anger she felt. Trying to calm herself down, she resolved to tell him what had happened but without releasing any important mission details – he had been right about _that_ anyway.

Truth be told, the Yamanaka heiress had been surprised when she learned she was going on an information infiltration mission that required seduction. This was not what astonished her as she had been on these kinds before, it was the fact that _Tenten_ was the one required to do the seduction. Though the weapons' mistress was a proficient kunoichi, her skills in _that_ particular direction were rather…lacking and the Hokage knew it as well. The Godaime did not have any other choice however, as most kunoichi were either already on missions or preparing for them and Ino was needed in the 'background' to gather information from the guards' minds while Tenten distracted the main mark.

She told all this to the Hyuuga who looked as uninterested as ever but a slight nod of his head for her to continue proved he was paying attention. She sighed, trying to keep her frustration at bay for the indifference he was showing – the man was as cold as they came – and continued narrating remembering to keep mission details out.

Along with two fresh chuunin, they had been a four-man team with Tenten as team captain and they had set out. Though she'd hid it well, Ino was able to tell that the older kunoichi was rather anxious and the Yamanaka heiress had tried to placate her. Tenten had smiled and said she was fine and so the mission begun. It was not easy waiting quietly for your teammate to seduce some guy so you could steal information from the memories of those he trusted and Ino had kept expecting something to go wrong. Sure enough, she had not been disappointed as a masculine yell rang through the night and sounds of a scuffle had followed soon after. She had moved quickly, using the noise as a cover and had slipped into the room only to find a wild-eyed Tenten fighting furiously with their target. The blond kunoichi had run to remove the man from beneath the brunette's very deadly kunai and had quickly knocked him out.

A sickening smell hit her nose and she'd glanced around only to see vomit on the beddings and floor. Surprised, she'd started to ask Tenten what had happened, but was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps – the guards had heard the disturbance. They'd decided to go ahead with plan-B, which had been to basically beat everyone up and have Ino extract the information before they made their escape. Later, when they'd asked Tenten what happened and how she could possibly throw-up during seduction, she'd just shrugged and said maybe she had food poisoning or something; the medical-based chuunin in their group had not found anything wrong with her after.

Ino lifted her eyes to look at Neji and was surprised – and a little pleased – to see concern in his eyes, but it was for only a second.

"Don't you see, there's something wrong and she needs help. Whatever is bugging her is seriously affecting her work, I mean she _threw-up_ during a vital part of the mission. I don't know what is exactly is going on, but maybe you do; what are you going to do about it?" she asked the Hyuuga, trying to make him see reason.

"Nothing," he replied after eyeing her for a moment.

Ino was rendered speechless – which was a rare occurrence – and she just gaped at the icicle of a man as her anger roiled within. _What_ the hell was wrong with him?

"But you're her boyfriend!" oops, that was not meant to come out.

Neji's eyes widened then narrowed again and his fists clenched. This time, Ino did take a step back. Ever since Shikamaru had inadvertently told them that Neji and Tenten were dating, they'd decided to keep it a secret among themselves. If word ever got out that they knew, they were sure Neji would put them all in comas, and then burn Shikamaru alive. So Ino stood rigidly, awaiting her sentence but silently vowing never to sell the others out but…

"I am not her boyfriend." The phrase was said so casually, Ino was sure he was not lying but…was that sorrow she saw flicker in his eyes, or maybe it was regret?

This threw her off-balance. She was certain that Shikamaru had been correct in his assessments, but there Neji stood, telling her he was not Tenten's boyfriend and he seemed to be telling the truth. His reaction however did not coincide with this…so what was going on? She then remembered the flash of regret she'd seen. Perhaps, they _had_ been dating and maybe they'd recently broken up. It was a farfetched idea but it was the only one that even came close to explaining the situation. It would also explain Tenten's rather brooding manner – though the mission would do that as well – and perhaps she was onto something.

"Regardless, the fact is that she needs you Neji. You need to do something about it," she said, trying to appeal to his humanity – _if_ he was human that is.

"You're wrong." His statements were simple and yet cutting. Ino was beginning to give up.

"No I'm not. She's broken Neji, I've seen it. You can't even begin to imagine what she's been through; whether any of you know it or not, the fact still remains that she needs you." Ino was now talking from experience; there were times when her teammates had been there for her even if she hadn't wanted them to.

"Whatever happened between you two can be put aside. _You_ need to stop thinking about yourself and think about her because you're the only one who is close enough to help her through this. I've never seen her like this before. Whether she _wants_ you around or not does not matter now because the _need _for you is there. You should be there even if she tries to push you away with all her might because she cannot stand on her own and needs you, who is already up, to help her stand."

It had been somewhat of a sentimental speech but Ino was pleased to see a light of contemplation in the ANBU captain's eyes. Maybe she had gotten through to him after-all. The Hyuuga prodigy however, shuttered his expression utterly and spoke in an ice cold voice.

"Be that as it may, it's still none of your business and your inquisitiveness is not appreciated. You may be the village's most prominent 'information-gatherer' but I will not have you try to ruin the choices we have made as a team because of a sudden whim you had. Is that clear?"

What the hell? This man was _daft_!

It seemed Neji had not been moved one bit and was now insinuating that she was trying to destroy their team-dynamics. What was wrong with this man? Ino had had enough!

"That's it! How dare you? I don't understand how Tenten puts up with you; it's probably because of your uncaring manner that she pushes herself to cover up various hurts. After-all, if her _boyfriend_ doesn't care, why would anyone else…?" she yelled, knowing she was overstepping her bounds but not caring anyway.

Ino spluttered for a bit, the anger so excessive that she couldn't think of any more insults. He deserved them – the selfish jerk. Ino couldn't understand why he was so detached when his 'teammate' was suffering greatly. She hadn't been that close to Tenten but this encounter was beginning to make her feel rather protective toward the weapons' mistress. He did not deserve her. Without further ado, she spun around, voicing her thoughts loudly enough for him to hear.

"No matter, Tenten _will_ get through this and she will grow stronger now that your overbearing presence is no there to look down on her and hold her back. You don't deserve her you emotionless freak."

And with that, she walked off, not caring that she almost knocked over a few pedestrians in her anger. Neji turned from the sight, and began walking back to the compound, his face an undecipherable mask.

**XXXXXX**

Evening was approaching rather quickly but the darkness of the night seemed to come much faster as if the sun couldn't wait to make its descent and so was doing it as fast as it could. Naruto pondered on this and eventually came to the conclusion that the night seemed to fall much faster in cold areas or during cold seasons. That meant that the Snow Country had early nights every night and the blond ninja smiled at this; it was a nice thought. He didn't bother telling this to Hinata though; she was caught up in a conversation with the nobleman they were escorting and they had lost him when they started talking about connections, tea-ceremonies and other aristocratic sounding stuff.

Their client was a mellow middle-aged man with a good sense of humor and Naruto had been pleasantly surprised. All noblemen he had met up to that point had sticks down their throats or up their butts…except Hinata of-course. She seemed to have been born stick-free and the whiskered blond was truly grateful for that – it had been hard enough forcibly removing Neji's stick. The man had invited them to spend the night at his home before their return journey and they were almost there. An added advantage was it was far from the hustle and bustle of a city-centre so they could easily tell if an attack was coming.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata whispered sharply, snapping him from his thoughts.

He turned to look at her and suddenly became alert when he saw her byakugan activated. It seemed they were being targeted and he felt rather annoyed at this; it was close to the end of the journey for goodness' sake, couldn't this have happened earlier? They quickly gave orders to the rest of the entourage on where to hide to be safe and slipped into combat-ready stances.

The attack was swift and Naruto found himself subconsciously commending their well thought-out ambush plan. The enemy seemed to be low-level ninja with the highest being at chuunin level, so they wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Kage-bunshin no justu!" he yelled and suddenly there were five of him dodging kunai and running toward the enemy.

Though they were more skilled than their opponents, they were clearly outnumbered at-least six to one but the odds were still in their favor. Naruto grabbed a couple of kunai from his pouch and threw them to distract two of them and a quick tai-jutsu combination had both of them unconscious on the ground in seconds. A particularly forceful uppercut took care of another and a clone faced down one while he took on the remaining two. These seemed to be more skilled than the rest but that didn't do them much good and one was quickly taken down. Looks like Tsunade-baba had been right; two jounin were more than enough.

Naruto glanced in Hinata's direction to see how she was doing and was rather mesmerized by what he saw. She was graceful and her Gentle-fist looked like an intricate deadly dance. Her opponents fell before her with slight bruises as they were taken down from the inside out; Naruto was impressed, he had never really seen her fight this close up. Of-course he did not really take his attention off his last opponent and quickly had the man incapacitated.

Turning once more in Hinata's direction, he frowned in irritation as he saw that some of the nobleman's guards had chosen to stubbornly join the fight and were getting injured – they were no match for ninja. Naruto yelled in frustration and ran towards Hinata who had resorted to using the Kaiten in order to protect herself and the guards – those idiotic egotists. He watched in odd fascination as she spun and her hair flew about her…she looked…incredible!

His eyes widened however when he saw one of the guards raise a kunai and stab her from behind. _What_? Naruto was frozen in place as he heard her cry out, turn to strike the offending guard and fall to her hands and knees as blood flowed freely from the deep wound. Suddenly kicking himself into motion, he ran towards her, realizing that maybe one of the guards had been a ninja in disguise and if so, were all of them ninja?

There were several men, both guards and ninja, running toward the panting woman and a furious Naruto was among them. His eyes widened further as he realized he would not be able to reach her in time.

"Hinata!" he yelled

**XXXXXX**

**A/N:** cliff-hanger of DOOM! ( Lol.) _This_ is what I call a cliff hanger but I will update soon since summer holidays are here. Well, my reviewers seem to be becoming rather lazy and have not reviewed much for the past couple of chapters. But seriously, if you guys don't review, how do you expect me to continue the fic? Please _**review**_, I need to know what you think. (^_^)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N****:** 'thank you' to all my reviewers. Now, on to chapter 7.

**Disclaimer:** I am not a mangaka neither do I own any animé related legal documents. Nuff said.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 7_

…**even in realization.**

Uchiha Sasuke was a man filled with power, dark and raw. He was easily ranked amongst the most elite ninja and had a flawless record when he came to completing tasks. His record however, was about to be declared null and void since he was failing to achieve the simple mission of falling asleep that night. The dark-haired man grunted and rolled over on his back hoping to gain more comfort; it did not help. He had changed positions several times for God knew how long but he still wasn't close to achieving even a small session of slumber; it was incredibly frustrating. It wasn't the lights streaming through his window that were keeping him awake; no, he liked those – though he would never admit it of-course. He had specifically chosen that apartment because of those lights that kept the darkness in his room at bay during the night and so reduced on his nightmares.

Yes, he had nightmares; it would have been strange for him not to considering what he had been through and what he had done. They came less often though – now that the guilt and anger for his actions and clan's death had been reduced – but when they did come, he would be glad for the lights. They gave little relief when he woke up sweating and panting, but he would take all the relief he could get…it was better than waking up in a cold, dark room anyway.

Sasuke wasn't much of a sleeper but any fool would know that everyone –ninja as well – needed at least a few hours of sleep each day if they wanted to perform efficiently and _he_ was all about efficiency. It wasn't that he was not tired – he had had a vigorous work-out session in the afternoon so he was pretty much worn out – it was just that he couldn't relax. He sat up in his bed, pulled the dark beddings aside and stood up to go to the kitchen; maybe a glass of water would serve to soothe him. Ignoring the small voice at the back of his head, he mentally went through the day – for the hundredth time – as he tried to figure out what was wrong.

Why had he pushed himself so hard during the afternoon training session…oh yes, he had been angry though enraged was more like it. It hadn't been the cold anger he had grown used to; no, this had been white hot and had had him so surprised that he wasn't thinking straight and had to hurry to a training ground lest he took it out on an innocent bystander. Why had he been so angry? Well…_that_ was an inane question and did not deserve an answer.

Gulping down the water, he tried to rid his head of the memories but they were annoyingly persistent.

"_Sasuke!" Naruto yelled._

"_Hn," he replied as he walked over to the ramen stand. Why had the dobe insisted they meet here?_

"_Your vocabulary is still as wide as ever I see," the blond said with a wide grin._

_Sasuke fought the urge to slug him and instead bit out irritably: "shut up dobe. What do you want anyway?"_

"_Oh, I just thought we'd meet here for lunch, you know as Team Seven. For old times' sake since we get so busy, we rarely meet these days."_

"_Hn," Sasuke said again and wondered how the other ninja could be so openly needy; it was embarrassing._

"_At least that's what I wanted, but Sakura-chan bowed out, said she was meeting someone over lunch tomorrow so she had to prepare," Naruto said, oblivious to Sasuke's disinterested stare._

"_Whatever," he said, hoping the other man would shut up._

"_Yeah, I was happy for her. She has finally agreed to go out with someone and I hear he is an awesome doctor. Can you believe how many offers she turned down after…"_

_Sasuke had stopped paying attention. He wasn't sure why but he felt rather annoyed by the news. Yes, Sakura had always had admirers and on his return, he had noticed they had increased which was to be expected since she had augmented her prowess as a ninja considerably. He'd thought all this was to his advantage since he figured she would bug him less when she realized there were other men out there, so…so why did he feel bothered by the news then?_

"_Hey, Sasuke-teme, are you still listening?"_

_Sasuke blinked when he noticed Naruto's hand was waving in front of his face and he slapped it away none too gently._

"_What?" he asked irritably._

"_For a moment there you looked…never mind," Naruto said without looking away from him._

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow as the whiskered ninja continued staring hard at him and then his eyes softened with something akin to understanding shining in them before he turned away._

"_You know, few people will ever understand who you really are and what you went through. It's not too late to ask her out," the blond said in a voice that was low so that only Sasuke would hear._

"_What are you talking about dobe?" He was acting petulant, he knew, but anyone would when their idiotic teammate started talking in parables that for some strange reason made sense._

"_I am saying that you don't know how lucky you are. For someone to believe in you even when you rejected them several times and your idiotic ego pushed you into darkness is beyond infatuation you know. You claim you have to restore your clan but are you going to do that with one of these airheaded fan-girls who have you up on a pedestal or with someone who truly loves you. You're starting to lose Sakura and if you let her slip away, then you're a blind idiotic bastard, sharingan or no." Naruto said staring daggers at him._

Sasuke tried to huff in indignation at the memory but ended up sighing. As much as he hated to admit it, the dobe's words were starting to make sense to him. He'd tried to ignore them, but earlier that day when he happened to be passing by one of Konoha's many alleys, he'd seen a sight that stopped him short and had Naruto's words ringing in his head over and over again. There Sakura was, pressed against a wall by some man whose head was close to hers, a bit _too_ close. When he saw the man's fingers caress her arm and she just stood there, not struggling, he decided he'd seen enough. After-all, he didn't want to intrude on their _private_ moment. He'd walked off casually, or so he'd thought, but when he remembered the strange and slightly frightened looks people had given him, he realized that _maybe_ his anger had shown just _a little._

Running his hands through his dark locks in frustration, the last Uchiha wondered what he'd do. All throughout his vigorous work-out session, he'd had to keep himself from marching back to the alleyway and growling out "she's mine" before knocking _that_ stupid pretty-boy unconscious. What, he suddenly wasn't good enough for Sakura anymore and she had to go out with some pathetic looking _doctor _of all people? He was not a psychiatrist but couldn't stop wishing he was; there were a lot of emotions he was experiencing that he didn't understand. _Perhaps_ Naruto had been right, but what was he expected to do about the situation anyway…the last time he had acted on his emotions, he'd ended up almost becoming a psychopath's body vessel.

**XXXXXX**

The room was so dark that a hand waving right in-front of someone's eyes could not be seen and Naruto was extremely glad for this. He was having a hard time going to sleep already, he didn't need light to make it even harder for him to rest. Of-course, his sudden insomnia might have had something to do with the fact that he was currently pressed against the soft and petite form a woman whom he'd realized just a few moments ago was remarkable. His position, albeit unorthodox, could be legitimately explained; but this didn't stop him from having a slight blush on his cheeks as he lay in the intimate position with the Hyuuga heiress. The thoughts of what had happened earlier ran through his head, serving the purpose of draining whatever drowsiness he felt.

Naruto had yelled Hinata's name more times than he could count as he raced towards her as fast as he could. She had been down on the ground, arms twisted behind her, trying to apply pressure on the deep knife wound but blood had kept flowing out, oozing past her fingers till they were as crimson as the life liquid. Both the remaining ninja and the guards had been racing toward her but she had been oblivious to this, her face twisted in a grimace of pain. Naruto, knowing he would not be able to reach her in time, had yelled her name yet again in consternation and that's when her head had snapped up – as if she had actually heard him. Still clutching at her wound, she had straightened her back and stood up shakily, gentle fist at the ready. Even with her face pale from the loss of blood, face twisted in pain and only one hand to fight with, the shy jounin had managed to take down 3 ninja before her stance slipped and she collapsed again, slipping from consciousness.

By this time, Naruto had arrived at the scene, dispatching the remaining men, ninja or not – he had not been thinking straight at the moment. Of-course the kind nobleman had later understood why half his guards were unconscious and had promptly sent for a doctor. The blond ninja, being wracked with guilt, had quickly tried to take care of Hinata's injuries, using what little skill he had picked from Sakura.

Carrying her from a disturbingly wide pool of her own blood, Naruto had gently placed her, face-down, on a clean blanket provided to him by one of the loyal guards and had bandaged up her wound as best as he could. Fortunately or unfortunately – he wasn't sure which – the blood outflow had thinned considerably and he had been able to stop the bleeding pretty easily, but this meant that she had lost too much blood. The rate at which her blood had been flowing out earlier had been indicative of major damage and it seemed the volume in her body had reduced considerably. Needless to say, that had not been good news. He had struggled between staying on the mission to protect the client and moving on ahead with Hinata so he could properly provide her with therapy. The considerate aristocrat had insisted he go on ahead and after a few moments of consideration, Naruto had put the Hyuuga on his back and moved ahead – directions still fresh in his mind – leaving behind several clones.

On reaching the nobleman's manor, he had rushed to the main entrance and waved a rapidly penned letter from the client in front of the guard's faces, demanding a room and several medically relevant supplies. Later, after laying Hinata down on a bed, he had removed the hastily bound bandages, cleaned the wound thoroughly and applied fresh dressings. Noticing her skin was cold to the touch; he had suddenly remembered the fact that she had lost a lot of blood and tried to recall the remedy for shock. He had known he had to replace the blood quickly else her tissues would get seriously damaged, but what was he supposed to do? There had been no way to make a blood transfusion at the time and he had had to work fast.

Then it had hit him. He had remembered a gum Sakura had given him once, to chew just incase he lost too much blood. Suddenly rummaging through his pack, he had found the Dextran carbohydrate and he had gone ahead to mash it up and try to dissolve it in a cup of water. It was meant to be chewed but Hinata had been unconscious and so he had done the next best thing: forcing it down her throat in small drops while running his fingers along her neck to activate the swallowing reflex. It had been a tedious job, but with several tries and numerous spills later, he had managed to get most of it down her throat. The remaining problem had been the unhealthily low temperature she had…which kept getting lower as he had later noticed.

At that point, there had been a knock at the door and the nobleman had walked in, asking if Naruto needed anything else other than dinner, beddings, and a fire in the hearth, since the room had been freezing. The blond ninja had agreed to dinner, but insisted that no fire should be made; explaining to the confused client that a sudden source of strong heat was not good for the hypothermia Hinata had but several warm beddings and perhaps a large shirt and a pair of shorts would do. The man had looked at him strangely but nevertheless ordered the servants to bring what had been requested to the room. Blushing slightly – and stammering several times – the whiskered blond had asked one of the female servants who had brought the clothes to quickly change the kunoichi into them while making sure she was kept as warm as possible and he had stepped out to rapidly gulp his supper down.

On going back into the room, he had quickly stripped to his boxers and slipped in bed beside the Hyuuga, wrapping himself gingerly around her icy body, mindful of her injury and trying to give her as much body-heat as he possibly could. He had stayed there in that position, hoping he would fall asleep soon so that he could wake up early – before she did – and possibly pretend the whole embarrassing scenario had never happened.

Three hours later, he was still wide awake and painfully aware of her breasts pressed against him, her hair tickling his cheeks and her splendid scent wafting into his nostrils. Even with the Pervy-sage's disagreeable influence, he had never been _this_ close to any female; so his discomfort mixed with unsettling curiosity could be understood. Honestly, in his mind, he had never thought about Hinata-chan as a female…come to think of it, he had never really thought much about her. But there they both were; she, undeniably female and he in a position that many men would have wished to be in undoubtedly and he did not like the direction his thoughts were taking.

Suddenly having an urge to feel her hair, he slowly reached out and passed his fingers through it before lifting it up to his nose to smell, not exactly sure what it was he was doing. It was incredibly soft and silky and her skin was amazingly velvety as well with…_wait!_ Naruto was appalled at his thoughts and was sure Jiraya was clapping his hands in glee wherever he was in the afterlife. Not knowing what to do next, he found his thoughts drifting again to the woman beneath him and wondered how he had never before noticed her strength and determination. Her fight earlier had been impressive and her resolve to fight even while grievously injured had impressed him…seriously, how had he not seen this before? If nothing else, she truly deserved her jounin rank. He shifted in discomfort and froze when he felt her stir beneath him.

Naruto stayed still for about a minute or so and was about to exhale in relief when Hinata moved again and let out a low moan. This was good news; she was finally waking up and that meant he could…oh no. If she woke up and found him in…

The Kyuubi vessel did not get to finish this thought as he felt her stiffen under him and suddenly found himself flying through the air and making painful contact with the floor. His chest hurt like hell from where her two palms – probably chakra infused – had connected with force enough to throw him off the bed…the girl was good. He quickly scrambled to his feet knowing that she would probably try to stand and strike him while using her byakugan to see in the dark. Her body could not handle that kind of stress and so, he held up his hands and stood in a casual stance.

"It's ok Hinata-chan, it's only me," he said rather frantically, almost yelling.

There was silence for a few seconds and he wondered whether she believed him…but she should be able to read his chakra signature and know it was truly him…shouldn't she?

"N-Naruto-kun?" a soft voice whispered in the darkness and he exhaled in relief.

"Yeah, yeah! Wait, let me turn on the lights…there!" he said. "Wow Hinata-chan, you have a lot of hidden strength…"

He trailed off when he saw her stare at him and turn bright scarlet; maybe she had a fever or something. Frowning, he quickly walked over to her, leaned over the bed and touched his forehead to hers…she was a little warm but nothing too serious…wait! Naruto was startled when he saw her slump and got really worried when he realized she had fainted.

"Hinata-chan!" he exclaimed, not quite sure what to do at the moment. He was not a medical ninja; besides, her warmth meant her body had gained the heat it needed to keep her from freezing and that was a good thing. Checking to make sure her breathing was stable and there was nothing wrong, the blond moved to put on his clothes; it was freezing after-all and him being half-naked in front of a lady was probably not appropriate.

Finishing this task rather quickly, he moved back to the bed and sat down beside the Hyuuga heiress' body. She looked so…so peaceful, like she had never felt pain before. This was obviously not true but as he looked down on her still form, he couldn't help but wish it was. The memory of what she had just endured invaded his thoughts and he clenched his teeth in frustration at the realization that he had not been able to protect her. She was one of his precious friends for goodness' sake…so…so then, why did he constantly overlook her?

It was a sobering thought and he suddenly felt shamed by it; he would try harder, she had better believe it. He looked down at the peaceful woman next to him and for the third time that evening, another quality of hers suddenly sprung out at him, leaving him completely stunned. She was beautiful; not pretty or cute but absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful! From the ink-blue locks sprayed out on the pillow beneath her head to the dainty cheeks that always seemed to have a splash of pink on them, then past her delicate little nose and finally to her soft looking pale-pink lips, she was stunning. How in the world had he missed this, heck, how had _anyone_ missed _this_? He had never really looked at a woman that way; sure Sakura-chan was pretty, but his teenage crush on her had long since faded and this…this was a completely different situation. The blond knucklehead felt his stomach clench strangely and suddenly had the overpowering urge to touch her smooth skin.

Raising his hand slowly, he traced a reverent line down a cheek – as if touching something sacred – and gazed into the lavender depths of her eyes, suddenly unable to look away. He frowned slightly when he saw her face turn red again and vaguely wondered at that as he…_wait_!

_Oh crap, she was awake_!

Naruto literally jumped away from the bed, a blush forming across his cheeks and he spluttered as he struggled to find something to say.

"H-Hinata-chan, you're a-awake." Yup, he was definitely a smooth fellow.

She struggled to sit up and Naruto rushed to her side, waving his hands and grateful for a distraction.

"Don't do that. You need to rest, don't you remember what happened?"

She looked puzzled for a moment, then a light of understanding shone in her eyes and they widened slightly…they were so expressive and…wait, he was staring again.

"N-Naruto-kun, what h-happened to my clothes?"

The blond snapped out of his semi-trance and wondered what she had just said; oh yeah, her clothes.

"They were soaked with blood, so they had to be removed and new ones given to you. Of-course it wasn't me who did it, I mean that would be inappropriate, so I asked the servants to help me. Not the male servants though because that would have just been stupid, it was the female ones and they did it really fast 'cause one came for me even before I had finished dinner and I had to hurry up so that you didn't get colder, otherwise hypothermia would have set in…" he was babbling, he knew but he couldn't stop himself.

Hinata on the other hand, didn't seem to mind and she continued to listen to him, her face slowly returning to a normal color and a small smile forming at her lips. When he asked if she was hungry, she shook her head indicating no and after several refusals at his insistence, a comfortable air settled around them. This, of-course, was until he mentioned the means by which he had had to keep her warm, at which point she turned a shade of red Naruto was sure had never been seen on a human being before. He had gotten used to this at that point but this time she was breathing really fast and looked to be on the verge of panic. She was hyperventilating…oh no, she would faint again if that kept up; he had to calm her down soon.

"Hey Hinata-chan, calm down; nothing bad happened…I mean I didn't do anything to you, not that I wanted to but…"

Oh boy, it seemed to be getting worse. Maybe a change in subject might help? Naruto took a deep breath and hoped it would work; even with all that energy and stamina, he had his limit and had just about reached it. Sleep was most certainly a welcome idea and he wanted it, bad.

"You know, you rock Hinata-chan! The way you took down those ninja was awesome; you've really grown strong! That was amazing, you've changed a lot," he practically yelled, hoping she'd hear him over her rapid breathing. That last remark had been based on her physical appearance but…well…she didn't need to know that.

Hinata-chan stared at him for a moment as her breathing slowed, face color returning to normal yet again – he hoped it would stay that way – though her eyes were widened, as if in shock and her cheeks remained red. She then raised her hands and began to play with her index fingers. It was Naruto's turn to be surprised; he hadn't seen her do that in _years_, what was going on?

"Y-you really think I changed, Naruto-kun?" she asked, hesitance lining her voice.

Hoping with all his heart that she hadn't caught onto the direction his private thoughts had been going in earlier, the blond rubbed the back of his head and replied with a grin.

"Of-course Hinata-chan, you're a great ninja."

She smiled then and Naruto felt his breath catch in his throat; what the hell was wrong with him? It had to be the weariness…it just had to be.

"Thank-you N-Naruto-kun."

She just kept staring down at her fingers which had seemed to develop a sudden affinity to the sheets as they were clutching them tightly. Naruto judged the situation safe enough for him to leave so, he quickly explained to her that he would be in the opposite room sleeping and that she should call if she needed anything. He hastily ran out of the room before he slipped and told her how cute she looked just then and flopped down on the bed that had been prepared for him with a heavy sigh. What the heck was wrong with him?

Fortunately enough, sleep came easily this time, but he found himself dreaming of midnight-blue hair and soft eyes with lavender hues smiling at him, accompanied with calming girlish giggles. They were pleasant dreams and he smiled in his sleep as the night wore on.

**XXXXXX**

Ino stared in disbelief at what Tenten had just said. She had decided on visiting her in the afternoon to see if she was doing alright, and a curiosity as to what had happened between her and Neji had absolutely nothing to do with it.

"Why did you do that?" she asked the brunette, trying not to be judgmental and take sides.

"I don't know, I was frustrated and felt like I couldn't breathe. I just took it out on him I guess, I don't know," Tenten replied, having the good grace to look mortified.

The blond chuunin couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were seated in Tenten's living room, sharing ice-cream that Ino had brought over in an attempt to make the weapons' mistress feel better, if only a little.

"That was a stupid thing to do Tenten." It was not very nice or tactical and would probably make the woman feel worse, but what she had done was truly…idiotic.

"I know, I know. But it felt justified somehow at the moment," the older jounin replied, feeling the whole situation was rather surreal. Wasn't _she_ supposed to be the one disapproving of Ino's romantic choices; the girl had a notorious reputation. However, she was also glad to be able to share her consternations with another girl. The story had just come out and along with it, the fact that her and Neji had been dating secretly for sometime…Ino hadn't looked all that surprised at the news which was strange. Perhaps…

"Alright, tell me what part of this is justified. Your boyfriend is patient and understanding about your posttraumatic stress disorder, he willingly puts up with your mood-swings and sudden revulsion to his touch because of what you had gone through. But when he refuses to kiss you because he thinks you're not ready for it, you tell him you don't need him anymore and break-up with him. Tell me if _anything_ there sounds justified to you," Ino said, practically jabbing the ice-cream in frustration.

Tenten winced, she had not told the other kunoichi everything and had instead glazed over the cause for their last fight, completely keeeping mum about the rape. But even with the limited information, the Yamanaka heiress had made it seem like she had behaved like a spoilt child, which was probably true, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

"He was just trying to watch out for you," the younger kunoichi stated.

"I know," the weapons' mistress said miserably. "But what am I supposed to do, the damage is already done."

Ino stared at her like she had just said kunoichi fashion was utterly useless. "Are you crazy, there's plenty you can do, starting by apologizing to him…speaking of which, I have to apologize to him as well."

"What are you talking about?" Tenten asked, suddenly curious.

"I…well…I sorta went and told him that he should come and check on you since he was really close to you."

"That's not so bad, why do you have to apologize?" the brunette asked.

"Well, I might have gone overboard and told him he was a clueless emotionless freak somewhere along the way," Ino replied, looking sheepish. "Sorry."

Tenten stared at the girl for a moment and burst out laughing. She could not imagine what Neji must have thought when he had heard that and when she tried to, she just ended up laughing harder. The laughter was inappropriate and highly peculiar, but it felt good to just lie back on the couch and just giggle for absolutely no viable reason. It had been long since she had done that.

"It's ok Ino. Don't worry about it," she managed to gasp out before bursting into another fit of giggles, this time with the blond kunoichi joining in.

When the laughing was done and the ice-cream finished, both women lay down on different couches, silent as they pondered on various things.

"Thanks Ino, for the ice-cream, and for being a good friend."

"Hey, any of the girls would do the same for you and you for them, so don't mention it," the chuunin replied.

"Yeah, Hinata tried yesterday but I was an ass and she left quickly. I was such a stupid, braying, long-eared ass," Tenten said, her voice low with shame and frustration.

"Yeah, you were an ass, to both of them and you have to fix it. You don't have to push away anyone who tries to care for you, it's simply selfish you know. Don't worry about it though, things will work out, you'll be surprised how much your friends will be willing to contend with. They'll understand."

Tenten was truly glad for Ino's company which had helped brighten up her day since she didn't have any missions lined up and training with Neji was…well, it was out of the equation, but hopefully not for long. Even when the blond chuunin had left, the weapons' mistress still felt that small ray of hope she had provided and hoped it would not fade soon, for she still needed it desperately.

Truth be told, as much as she wanted to forget her feelings, she just couldn't. Though she was working really hard to not let the guilt for what she had done to Neji overpower her – having Ino rub it in her face just how selfish she'd been had taken its toll. The jounin felt truly horrible and decided to search him out first thing in the morning the next day. Hopefully, he would be willing to listen to her.

**XXXXXX**

Haijime Makoto sat in his dim, rundown home calculating his next move and going over his plan one more time. He was the best strategist in Kumo, but nothing on or around him spoke of this fact and that was because of the incompetent idiots he had been forced to work with once. The men he had allied himself with this time were not any better, but he was sure his plan was flawless.

The idiots from the Leaf could not possibly mess up this time and if they did…well, he was getting physically involved this time and either way, the target would end up dead and he would get what he wanted. A slow smile of pleasure formed on his face as he thought of what to do to the girl this time to ensure she could not be returned. Ah, yes indeed; good days were coming ahead.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N**: that's that. Now, there are those several hidden readers who do not review. I appeal to you once more that I need you to review and tell me what you think, maybe the story will improve that way.** Irit16, **(lol), yes, I _am_ happy and glad you think this story is worth finishing; don't forget to review and **Dalichan510**, your reviews make me happy. Don't worry, I understand your English just fine so don't let that stop you from telling me what you think. Otherwise, hugs and smiles to all who reviewed. You who is reading this, click that button at the bottom and type out whatever you think of this story, but leave me some love as well. (^_^)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N:I have taken long to update, I know, but pray forgive this particular wrong deed…life had handed me the short end of the stick for a while. But am back now and grateful to **QuietShadowz**, **Irit16, Dalichan510, ****LovelyIamNot**and **Tenji** for their lovely reviews; you guys rock! Also to Lorkie-chan, my beta, thank you for supporting me in my dry, dry spell. Now that we're clear, here's chapter 8.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto does not belong to me…that much free time never comes my way.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 8_

…**even in acceptance.**

"Lee!" Tenten called, relieved to finally see at least one member of her former team. "Have you seen Neji?"

The green clad man spun in a frivolous manner that – for an unknown reason – did not look all that ridiculous on him.

"Tenten! I am extremely glad to see you. It has been a while, how are you?" he exclaimed loudly, causing a few startled pedestrians to look in their direction.

"I'm fine Lee…have you seen Neji anywhere?" She was being rather abrupt with him she knew, but her patience was running thin. After making up her mind to apologize to Neji and spending a couple of days agonizing over how she would do it, Tenten had finally set out to look for the prodigy, only to find he was nowhere to be found.

The thought that he might be actually avoiding her had crossed her mind, but she had quickly suppressed it and continued searching for him regardless. Hours turned into days, and before she knew it, a week had passed and the search she'd begun rather reluctantly had turned into a frantic manhunt; she _needed_ to find him and each day she didn't, her patience grew thinner. There was also the pending issue with Hinata…she had been so unfair to the poor girl and the guilt was eating at her. The Hyuuga heiress had gone on a mission – or so she'd been told – and Tenten didn't know whether she was back in the Village yet. At that moment in time, the frustrated kunoichi was about ready to rip someone's head off and if Lee didn't answer quickly, he would become Lucky-number-1.

"As a matter of fact, I have not seen Neji since I came back from my mission."

Tenten's shoulders slumped visibly. She was far too tired to try and hide her frustration, especially from someone who knew her as well as Lee; she was nearing her limit.

"Tenten, is something wrong? You don't look your normal youthful self," Lee asked, frowning slightly as his eyes shone with concern.

"It's nothing Lee…I…I just wanted to tell him something." This was hardly enough to fool the green-clad man and she knew it.

Many people had the habit of underestimating Gai-sensei and Lee because of their physical appearance and over-the-top emotional vocalizations, but they were soon proven wrong. Lee had picked – among _other_ things – the intense insight their sensei possessed and though he would mostly use it in the field, nothing could stop him from using it in situations such as these. Tenten however, _really_ did not need anyone delving into her personal life at that moment and she hoped her capricious teammate would understand this. Surely enough, he did and chose not to inquire further; the relief in kunoichi's eyes was evident.

"Well, there was mention of a Hyuuga family function earlier today in the jounin office. I have no doubt Neji is demonstrating his youthful passion by supporting his family," Lee said.

Tenten smiled gratefully at him; his attempts to lessen her depression were sweet, no-matter how ineffective they were.

"Thanks Lee; I'll see you later," she said with a short wave and a smile that used too much energy to sustain, regardless of how small it was.

The weapons' mistress was truly grateful for Lee's utter avoidance of any discussion involving her melancholy aura and promised she'd do something nice for him soon…when, or _if_ all this died down. Truth be told though, she was oddly relieved that no-one she'd asked had seen Neji of late…it meant he wasn't avoiding her _only_ and though this helped lift her mood, it could not completely erase the anxiety clouding her chest with every passing hour; she just didn't know what to say to him. The nightmares that constantly reminded her that she was 'broken goods' were visiting her more frequently and she was soon due for another session with Ino; the chuunin would surely reach upon the rape scenes this time. The frustration began building up again as all these thoughts swirled around in her mind.

Tenten hadn't heard anything about the Hyuuga function and wondered whether it was just out of the blue or perhaps Neji had forgotten to mention it when they were still…ah! All the regret and misery she felt at that moment seemed like it wanted to drown her. She would seek him out and sort this thing out; if only so she could maintain her sanity.

**XXXXXX**

Hinata walked as fast as she could in the bulky kimono she'd donned for the Hyuuga function. Being brought up in a clan as cultured as the Hyuuga, she had no problem walking in the formal attire, but anyone – even the ancient princesses – had to admit that the apparel was not meant for stealth or speed…especially when one was trying to escape unnoticed from an official ceremony held in her honor. No matter how odd it was, she just couldn't bring herself to sit through the rest of the function…not with thoughts of the previous days plaguing her mind the way they were.

After resting for a couple of days, she'd set off toward the village with Naruto-kun – even though he'd been against it – only to arrive a day to the familial introduction of the heir. The next day, the council of elders had called a meeting in which they'd informed her that before she could be inaugurated as the next clan-head, she'd have to marry. Hinata had known this before hand and had come to terms with it in her own way; besides, she knew it was to give stability to the clan and produce a new heir as fast as possible. It was a tradition and she had no right to oppose it. This train of thought had been abandoned quickly though as she was told that only a noble _civilian_ husband would be accepted since the family could not afford to lose both clan-heads to the short life-spans ninja tended to have.

She'd been crushed but had not shown any physical sign of devastation, having long since learnt to school her features perfectly and knowing that this would have been seen as a sign of weakness. The shy heiress had paid little attention after that and barely heard Hirohito-sama – one of the oldest but most uptight member of the council – say that failure to comply would lead to her expulsion from the clan, along with 2 seals engraved onto her body. One, the Caged-bird Seal which was customary for any Hyuuga not in the main house and the second, an ancient seal to disable her optical chakra pathways. This would disturb her vision from time to time, but it was the price to pay. After this, Hinata had stopped listening completely as questions flooded her thoughts and feelings of shock and helplessness threatened to overcome her…she could not remember how the meeting ended. That night, she'd agonized over what to do; was there anything _to_ do about it at all anyway?

It was selfish of her to want to defy her clan's rules, but…but she was _in_ love with a ninja! Someone she'd admired for several years, but before she could even get a chance to truly express her sentiments, fate was taking him away from her. _Fate_, it was not a word she thought about often but the Hyuuga seemed to believe in it and used it to justify everything…maybe it had finally caught up with her. Her cousin Neji had attempted to fight it, but it seemed that even he could not outrun it; she'd heard about the provisos surrounding his own marriage and ascension to Branch-house head.

She'd once thought that the strength to keep going no matter what was what true courage was and she'd admired that in Naruto-kun, but…but did _she_ have that strength, could she overcome this? These thoughts had not surfaced in a long time and as they continued to sap all her strength away, she felt a headache coming on…it was all pointless…

"_Go Hinata! You can do it!"_

The shy Hyuuga was abruptly snapped out of her thoughts at the memory of Naruto-kun cheering for her, even when all thought she had no hope. She'd once told him that he inspired and filled her with admiration…yet…yet there she was, doing the very thing he would never do: giving-up. No, she would not go back on her word! She'd once promised herself that she would fight fate in much the same way Neji nii-san was trying to…she would stick to her ninja way.

Suddenly filled with renewed resolve, she picked her way through hidden paths as fast as her attire could allow her, heading toward training-ground 43 where she'd seen Naruto practicing earlier that day. She just had to know if, perhaps…_maybe_ he liked her, even a little; if _maybe_ he could consider a future with her by his side; she just had to know. The thought made her stomach turn strangely and she was sure her face was flushing at that very moment. If there was even a chance – no matter how small – that she could be with him, she'd take it and they would fight the consequences together. But even with all these determined thoughts flitting through her head, she felt her courage thinning out; abandoning her at a time when she needed it the most. It was bad enough, that when she finally reached the training-ground and had her longtime crush before her, she could not pronounce the words needed to get his attention.

**XXXXXX**

"Rasengan!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes to avoid any wood splinters entering as he hit the 20th tree afternoon; it still did not work.

"Argh!" he yelled in frustration. Why wasn't it working; he needed these thoughts out of his head!

Ever since his arrival in the Village, all that was plaguing his mind was Hinata, Hinata, Hinata! It was driving him nuts. He _really_ didn't need such distractions, but try as he might, he could not get the softness of her skin or lushness of her lips out of his head. Not to mention her hair, how did she keep it so silky and…ah, there he went again. No matter how many times he told himself that he just needed to concentrate on becoming the next and best Hokage the village had ever seen, he still couldn't get her out of his mind nor could he suppress the strange feeling of longing that accompanied these thoughts.

It did not help that he knew she was an aristocrat, albeit a down-to-earth one, but an aristocrat nevertheless; she would _never_ look twice at him, he was the Village _jinchuriki_, a born village pariah for goodness' sake! No girl had ever shown interest in him; sure they would admire him from afar and word had it that a fanclub of his own had been started recently, but that was purely because of his ninja prowess. Females had never shown even a hint of romantic sentiments for him and he was sure the Hyuuga heiress – who looked rather sick every time she saw him – had no such feelings toward him.

"N-Naruto-kun."

Said ninja almost jumped a foot in the air; talk about the devil! He would be able to recognize that voice anywhere and the way it sounded when his name was called except this time there was a bit of hesitance layered within. He spun around so fast that he heard a crack and really hoped he had not just given himself whiplash.

"Hinata-chan?" he half yelled, wondering what she was doing there and how the heck had he not felt her approaching, especially since she was dressed in a…wow!

Naruto's eyes widened as he took in Hinata's appearance; she looked absolutely riveting, dressed in a soft-white silk kimono detailed with dark-blue flowers and petals that matched the violet hues in her hair. The obi was a soft lilac which brought out the pale color in her eyes. He couldn't see the back of her head but could tell her hair was held up, and the side of a beautiful pearl comb could be seen. No other jewelry adorned her but with hands folded in-front and her head tilted back to look up at him, she looked every bit the clan-head she would soon be. Naruto suddenly felt his throat go dry.

He waited for her to say something but she just stood there, fidgeting slightly, eyes darting here and there. Her hands were now clutching at the sides of her kimono tightly; was she nervous or something? The whiskered ninja was not one to complain when he had a vision of beauty, blushing slightly, in-front of him but he was almost sure that the awkward silence that had befallen them was out of place in such a situation. Swallowing nervously – since when was he tense around Hinata-chan – he cleared his throat.

"Is there something I could do for you, Hinata-chan?"

She jerked slightly and he wondered whether she had been so lost in her thoughts that she'd forgotten he was there. Her face became a shade darker and he almost groaned; he _really_ did not need to be reminded how uncomfortable he made her feel. They had had a few pleasant, though short, conversations on their mission but other than that, she would almost shrink every time he was around her; it had troubled him more than he'd liked to admit. There she was yet again, starting to almost visibly shrink from him and he had to fight the urge to grab her shoulders and ask what about him was so repulsive. He instead decided to excuse himself as fast as he could.

"Well, if there is nothing then I guess I should g…"

"I love you Naruto-kun!"

"Huh?" She'd spoken so fast and frantically as if she had been afraid he would suddenly disappear that it took him quite a while to process her words.

As he stared at her, her face rapidly turned a surprisingly deep shade of crimson and his heart almost stopped when her words finally registered.

"_What_?" It came out like a strangled croak, but he didn't care. She _what_?

"I h-have admired you s-since the academy a-and I…I love you," she said so softly that had he not heard her before he would not have picked what she was trying to say.

His brain could still not get around the fact she was trying to present to him, so he voiced the only thought that kept replaying in his head.

"Are you serious?" he asked in shock.

This time, Hinata did shrink back visibly and a small peep escaped her mouth, but she nodded her head slowly in affirmation, all the while clutching at her kimono tightly and looking for the entire world like she just wanted to turn around and bolt. Since the academy? What the…where was all this coming from…how…_what_?

The blond raised his hand to clutch at his hair and tried to fully process what she was saying. It _couldn't_ possibly be true! How could she have…_loved_ him all that time and he hadn't even noticed; even _he_ was not that oblivious. But Hinata was not the type of girl to lie about such a thing – or anything else for that matter – so could it be…?

No!

He wasn't sure why but he felt that maybe this was some sort of phase or _something_ that she was going through. As much as this was what he had been dreaming about in increasing intensity for the past week, he still couldn't believe it and finally decided that given time, she would change her mind and move on…he was not good enough for her. Hinata was a nice person and she deserved better than being attached to a jinchuriki simply because no one else had approached him…he had to inform her of this.

"H-Hinata-chan, you can't be…it's, it's not…" he trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

She bowed her head and his usually creative mind struggled for words to vocalize.

"Maybe…maybe you should take some time to think about it. I don't know…you could try t-to see if maybe it isn't true…" he said softly, clenching and unclenching his hands. "I…I need to go."

He turned around and walked away; Tsunade-baba had an S-class mission for him, Sasuke and Shikamaru and they were meeting soon. The situation was awkward and though he felt horrible leaving Hinata there after blatantly expressing disbelief in her confession, he knew it was for the best. It hurt that he thought her feelings were fleeting, but he was sure of it – no matter how much he wished it were otherwise – and he consoled himself with the fact that at-least he had not rejected her and she would see the truth soon.

Hinata stared at Naruto's retreating back, tears forming in her eyes, try as she might to force them back; he had just _rejected_ her. He hadn't believed her and had told her that she should re-think her feelings, as if…as if he was bothered by the fact that they even existed. Oh, how she had hoped that he would give her a chance at the very least but…but…but it was clear he didn't have the slightest bit of love for her. He had been nice and told her she should take some time to evaluate her affections but his true sentiments had been expressed loudly and clearly.

As much as she had known that this was possibility, it still hurt too much and she sat down suddenly, her trembling legs not able to hold her up anymore. This was it; years of hidden love had built up to that moment and it had blown up in her face…she sat there, staring at nothing in particular. Eventually, she would collect herself before going back to the compound to face her future, but for that moment, the heiress let her guard down and allowed herself to fully express her disappointment in a way that would be frowned upon by most Hyuuga…she let herself cry.

**XXXXXX**

The dark haired chuunin shifted uncomfortably in his seat and wondered what he could have done to make Uchiha-san glare at him so. All he had been doing was flirting with the cute waitress…wait, maybe he was interested in her…no way! The man was famous for being unmoved by any woman; look at his teammate Sakura, she was –in a word –hot! and yet the man had never given her a second look even when she had eyes for him…oh-oh, _his_ eyes had just narrowed, maybe he ought to get out of there.

On the other hand, Sasuke had no idea the amount of discomfort he was causing the poor man. His thoughts were clouded with questions he could not answer and this just made him irritable, hence the glaring. The currently surly man had a system: if something unpleasant wormed its way into his thoughts, he would just ignore it. Granted it would finally come up in later in various ways like nightmares or rage, but the point was that it wasn't in its original form and _that_ he could handle. It wasn't working very well in this situation though; yes, he had ignored it and it had eventually made him more irritable than normal, but _it_ was still occupying his thoughts!

The fact that he was thinking about Sakura in ways he'd never even explored was beginning to take its toll on him; in actual truth, it alarmed him more than shocked him. The daily nightmares were punctuated with salacious dreams of her that left him as disturbed as the nightmares did, if not more. In one of the more normal ones, she was looking at him adoringly and declaring time and time again that she belonged to him and would never leave him. This in itself wasn't so bad; what disturbed him most was that he found himself almost _treasuring_ that dream and deep down, he agreed with the concept. What was wrong with him, a week had passed already since the dobe had inserted those thoughts in his head; couldn't he just forget her? The world felt surreal, like now _he_ was _her_ fanboy…bile rose in his throat at this realization and he suddenly had the urge to pummel the guy across from him into the ground.

Standing up abruptly, he left some money on the table for his untouched tea and walked out of the shop, hands deep in the pockets; he needed to let his frustration out, 'how' though, was the question.

That was when he saw her.

She was leaning against a wall, seemingly lost in thought and her short hair was flowing about in the breeze. The Uchiha knew he looked stupid just standing there gazing at her when he had to meet his team for a mission soon but he somehow couldn't convince his legs to walk away from the sight! He had seen her countless times for goodness' sake, it shouldn't affect him so but…he still felt strangely euphoric as he stared at her. Her gaze suddenly sharpened in on him and he stiffened when he realized that as she opened her lips to say something, eyes wide in surprise with a stray strand of hair landing between her lips, she presented a perfect picture of one of the starting scenes in his licentious dreams. He was _definitely_ done for.

"Sasuke," Sakura called in surprise.

It was positively startling – and a little disturbing – to have him stare at her like that after she'd just snapped out of her daydream. He looked irritated and had visibly stiffened when she looked at him…she knew he found her exasperating, but did he have to be so annoyingly open about it?

The medic had been going through her last date and wondering what exactly about the guy had infuriated her. Yes, he had been egotistic, but so was Sasuke and she had obsessed about him for years; he had been fresh with her, but if Sasuke had done such a thing, she wouldn't have minded. Heck, if Sasuke had told her to take off her clothes, she would have done it…alright, probably not but the point still remained: if it had been Sasuke, she would have thought the date had been extremely romantic. That had brought her to the problem of her failed attempts to forget the lightning natured shinobi…she just couldn't stop thinking about him; it was like she had been _born_ a fangirl. The man had embarrassed her time and time again, he had proven that he didn't care for her when he'd left all those years ago…but still she compared all her dates to him and her heart…just didn't seem to want to let him go. She had tried; she really had, but…

"What do you want, Sakura?"

It was asked in a voice practically dripping with irritation and she gaped for a bit; what was wrong with him? Did he always have to be a jerk; _he_ was the one who had been staring at her anyway.

"N-nothing…just wanted to say hi. It's been a while," she replied nervously nevertheless.

"Hn." He was still frowning but the stiff posture he'd had earlier was gone and he took slow steps toward her till he was standing right in-front of her; well, at-least he wasn't ignoring her.

"I know it's mostly my fault for missing Naruto's team-lunch but I had a…previous engagement," the kunoichi said a little too loudly. Perhaps if she could talk to him about her everyday life – like she did with Naruto – she'd get more comfortable and her infatuation with him would reduce, if only slightly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and fought the urge to sneer; 'previous engagement' indeed. Did she think he was stupid or something? Had her _date_ been so amazing that she felt the need to talk about it there and then…with _him_?

"It was something I hadn't done in while and I thought…"

Sasuke tuned her out as she continued talking; he really didn't want to hear about her date with that idiotic doctor. She had always talked too much and he had hated it, but that had never stopped her; he honestly wondered whether she secretly wanted to drive him deaf…the sweet Sakura many people saw was not the determined spitfire he knew. He studied her face slowly, finally giving in to the urge he had been trying to suppress.

She had a wide forehead, yes, but it was not out of place and people had made too big a deal out of it originally anyway. Gone was the slight chubbiness she once had; instead, her face was slender with a delicate looking jaw-line. Her eyes were resolute but had the weariness that said that she knew what true loneliness was. That surprised him more than anything…how had that happened? But even he had to admit that the woman standing before him was striking and any man would be glad to have her by his side – even him, no matter how much he denied it. Looking at her lips, he wondered if the _doctor_ had wanted to touch them as badly as he did at that moment; or maybe he had kissed them.

This thought had him clenching his fists for a reason he could not yet fully comprehend. All the Uchiha knew was that the possessive feeling rising up in his chest was almost overwhelming and he suddenly felt like kissing those lips, bruising them so that she knew _she_ belonged to _him_. He had never really had a pleasant kissing experience before and almost shuddered when he remembered waking from unconsciousness to a teammate kissing him passionately. But he was sure that marking Sakura in such a manner would be pleasant and his whole body agreed with him…besides, it would serve the inimitable task of shutting her up.

Sakura was almost sure her heart had stopped in her chest. She had been trying to find a way to shift from the unpleasant experience that had been her date – without exposing unwanted details – to a more comfortable topic when Sasuke had suddenly stepped into her personal space and pressed his lips to hers.

It was a short kiss but it left her shocked and gaping at him several seconds after he had pulled away nonetheless, the feeling of his warm lips on hers still lingering.

"I don't care about that; _you_ are _mine_," he almost growled as his lithe form leant over her.

Breathing rather fast for her liking, she raised a hand to her lips. Sasuke must have found the action amusing for he smirked as he gazed at her, something which had her stomach turning strangely but filled her chest with sudden anger.

She raised a hand to slap him in indignation but he stopped it easily with a 'hn,' as his smirk widened. The anger began to bubble and she tightened her fist, but even she never predicted her next move…

Sakura punched the Uchiha prodigy in the face.

As Sasuke was forced to take several steps back from the sheer force of the blow, he tried to straighten his whirling mind. _He had just kissed Sakura_! Strangely enough though, he wasn't regretful in anyway…it was just that…he had just _kissed_ Sakura and she had _punched_ him. Punched _him_! In much the same way as she usually punched Naruto and it hurt quite a bit – not that he'd ever admit to it. What the…? He froze when he looked at her and saw the unshed tears gleaming in her eyes.

"Don't you dare!" she hissed with gritted teeth and narrowed eyes. "Don't you _dare_ play with my emotions."

What the hell was she talking about? Her eyes closed as the tears spilled over and her breaths became shallower; but when she opened her eyes, he could see the unadulterated anger gleaming in them. Sasuke was honestly confounded and a little alarmed, but just gave her a cool gaze instead.

"I am _not_ yours and have never been! You made that pretty clear when you left and tried to _kill_ me afterwards!" She paused and tried to calm herself down. "I offered you my heart then and you cast it aside. Take your hypocrisy somewhere else..."

The last part had been said softly with downcast eyes, but it hit him full force and his eyes widened a fraction. She still felt betrayed…no matter how much she'd tried to hide it, it was now clear that he'd hurt her more than he had originally thought. Sasuke knew he ought to walk away and leave her in peace since his very presence brought her such aggravation but…he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted her…couldn't she see that; he was not the man he once had been.

"I'm sorry," he said hesitantly.

Never, not even once, had he apologized for what he had done to his teammates. But as he stood there, watching Sakura sob softly, he couldn't quite suppress the feeling of guilt that had seemed to engulf him only in his nightmares. At that moment, he could confess all his emotions just so that feeling would go away…what he'd just done to her wasn't fair.

Sakura stared at the Uchiha prodigy in surprise…had he just _apologized_? It wasn't enough for all he had done to her and Naruto, but she could imagine the depth of emotion that had made him utter such a statement. Trying to blink the treacherous tears away, she bowed her head so she could look away from him but almost jumped a foot in the air as his hand slid under her chin, forcing her to look up at him again.

"But I know what I want, Sakura," he said and she bit back a shiver. Why did he always make her feel like this even when she didn't want to? "I want what's mine."

Ok, that did it. Her face flushed even as tears brimmed in her eyes…what was he saying?

"Sasuke, I…" she tried to begin but was abruptly cut off as his grip on her chin tightened and the intensity in his obsidian eyes almost scorched her.

"And I _will_ have it; no matter how long it takes."

The medic didn't know what to say after that. He was telling her in no uncertain terms that she belonged to him and her _wanted_ her…how possessive! But no matter how much she tried to convince herself that she should be careful about her decision, the fluttering of her heart and tightening of her stomach just made her mind 2nd priority in the matter. _This_ was what she had wanted for a long time and now that it was in front of her, she just couldn't believe it Without even knowing what she was doing, Sakura took a step toward him and clutched at his shirt as she boldly leaned into him; her version of a non-invasive hug.

Needless to say, the dark-haired ANBU was shocked and wondered what he was supposed to do at that moment. He was sure she'd understood what he had said to its full depth but did her reaction mean it was alright with her? The Uchiha was not sure how to go about asking her though so he just let it go. The emotions he had toward his teammate needed to be sorted out as well and he knew they'd have to talk about it later…being a private person, he wasn't looking forward to that at all though. Ignoring all the nagging feelings however, he wrapped an arm tightly around the small of her back and raised the other up to clutch her hair. He couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction as well when she whispered a 'Sasuke-_kun_' in reaction…

'Hn' was all he said.

**XXXXXX**

"Yeehah!"

Kiba just loved the freedom he felt when Akamaru jumped from tree to tree, carrying him on his back; it was exhilarating! He was one of those few individuals who could say they truly knew what it felt like to almost fly. Rushing home after training with Shino, he used the shortcuts in the forest that cut through several training grounds. When Akamaru jumped onto the ground as they passed through a particularly trashed training area, he called a halt as a familiar scent caught him by surprise.

Getting off the large snow-furred dog, he sniffed a couple of more times to be sure…Yep! This was most certainly Hinata's scent. But what had she been doing there when she was supposed to have been at the Hyuuga compound attending a celebration? He got even more confused as he thought about the damage done to the area; he would bet his fangs Hinata had not been the one to cause it. But if not her, then who…aah, it all made sense now.

The Inuzuka male gave a feral grin as he recognized Naruto's scent; hm, he wondered what they'd talked about.

Wait a minute! Hinata's scent was mixed with strong hints of adrenaline and several other smells that indicated a struggle had taken place. The body released hormones when it was under severe strain whose residues were eventually secreted in sweat and his teammate's scent was packed with them. If Naruto had done anything to Hinata, Kiba would make sure the whiskered man _never_ walked again.

It didn't matter that they were friends, Hinata was part of his pack and he would protect her with his life no matter the circumstances! He let out a low growl in anger as pictures of what could have frightened the girl so flashed across his mind; that's it! Uzumaki was gonna get it! A sudden bark and fierce growl from Akamaru brought him back and he briefly wondered what was wrong with the dog. Thinking it was a new scent, he moved around and sniffed some more…wait!

_What_ was _this_?

Kiba bared his fangs; he could never forget these particular smells. The blend was too perfect for him to be wrong and as he realized this, he suddenly wished with all his heart that he _were _wrong. These were the same scents him and Shino had tried to track the day Team-Gai was attacked and the day Tenten was found…he was not mistaken!

He suddenly cursed as he realized what all this meant. Hinata's scent was stronger than Naruto's and that meant that she had stayed there even after he'd left. The other scents were mixed with the same adrenaline levels Hinata's had except there was no hint of fear. That meant that Hinata…oh no!

The Inuzuka quickly got back on Akamaru and raced through the forest, straight to the Hokage's tower. The fear rising up in him was pushed back down mercilessly as he prayed and hoped that Hinata was alright!

**XXXXXX**

**A/N**: let me clear a few fuzzy areas: for the sake of this story, let's pretend Hinata's confession in canon never happened. While I loved her bravery during the scene, I hate the fact that Naruto has not yet been shown to have a reaction towards it. I think the fact that he left the village _twice_ without talking to her is just plain rude, so block that out of your minds temporarily if you wanna feel at peace while reading this.

Secondly, I know that this is a NejiTen fic and I'm well aware of the fact that I have not put any NejiTen scenes in the recent chapters, but be patient, they're coming up and I'm almost sure you'll feel it was well worth the wait. *wink*

Also, pray do forgive me – again – if the romance and (or) fluff felt cheesy in this chapter; I'm not very good at this sort of thing…it's my beta Lorkie-chan's forte, not mine.

Anyway, _**review**_ and tell me what you think, but leave a bit of love for me as well –God knows I need it. (^_^)


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** this is to thank all my reviewers, y'all are awesome! **Sasutenfan, **I can't exactly say I echo your sentiments, but I hope this chapter will be to your liking. Here is chapter nine.

**Disclaimer:** I don't think this is necessary…surely there's no one out there who's naïve enough to believe I actually own Naruto…

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 9_

…**even in surrender.**

The plan had been simple; Kumogakure needed a bloodline limit of its own and so they had plotted to 'acquire' one through an operation directed by Haijime Makoto. He had been the village's best infiltration expert and the council of advisors had suggested him to Raikage-sama.

His plan had been flawless but the idiotic lead-ninja had been too weak and was killed before he could get away with the Hyuuga girl. Turning their fingers of blame on him, the council had wanted to execute him but he had placated them with a second plan. That was the day, however, he constantly remembered as the _one time_ his majestic brain had let him down; the plan had failed miserably. How could he have been expected to know that the body of the Hyuuga clan-head had a seal that would make the byakugan useless to obtain once he was dead? The marking had almost begun to fade proving that it had been made several years back – probably before he was clan-head – but it had been extremely strong and complicated with several levels that the best seal-experts had not been able to completely unravel it without destroying it completely. His inside sources from the Leaf had not answered any of his questions as regarded the incident, claiming they knew nothing about it and that the Hyuuga kept their secrets very well.

The carriage he sat in was dank and strangely smelt of rotten onions – and he would know, considering the few mishaps he'd had with forgotten vegetables the first few days he'd been forced to live without a maid. He was pretty sure there were cockroaches embedded somewhere underneath the seat and he hoped they would not crawl out as the hired carriage shook every now and then along the bad roads. The contraption – for that is what it was; it just merely resembled a carriage – was far below his perceived status but he'd have to make do with what he could afford. Yes, he was Haijime Makoto, but that did not matter much at that point.

He'd been informed – by the bumbling Leaf idiots – that the very same Hyuuga girl whose abduction he'd planned was being prepared to take her place as the next clan-head. It was the perfect opportunity to strike – before the damn seal was placed on her – and he was sure _no one _would ruin the plan. Makoto was no ninja but he knew how they worked and that's why he had been chosen years ago by the council. Armed with that knowledge and information about the Hyuuga garnered from various scrolls, he had no doubt the plan would work through flawlessly. Being forced to work with his own enemies bruised his professional ego in several places, but the men had been easy to manipulate. Just a few wads of money and vague promises of glory had weakened their alliance to the village; the treacherous scum! He was glad Kiri had no such glory-seeking imbeciles.

The men were refugees from a small village which had been razed by a series of battles that had almost turned into a full-scale shinobi war. Konoha's ninja had been in the centre of the whole ruckus and so, even if she took in many refugees, some still blamed her and her ninja for their lost homes. These men had been part of those who could not get over their hatred of Konoha and so had eagerly accepted their tasks in ridding her of one of her most precious bloodline limits. They had initially captured the wrong person, but after _playing_ with her for a bit, they'd returned her to avoid being tracked down eventually. Makoto curled his lips in distaste; they could play with the Hyuuga girl all they wanted…but only after he'd relieved the _princess_ of her eyes.

**XXXXXX**

Panic, punctuated by severe shock, could invoke so many reactions, the least of which is the intense and overwhelming desire to cry one's heart out. Tenten was experiencing this and so many other reactions as she walked slowly to the training area that had always been her favorite, along with Neji. She did not expect to find him there of-course, but going to a place where they'd had so many secret and special moments together would console her for a while…before she said goodbye to him…forever.

At the Hyuuga celebration earlier in the day, it had been announced that Neji would be getting married in half a year's time to one of his more distant cousins. The girls had been nervous and yet excited, so they'd done the one thing they could that would 'shed some light' on the situation: they gossiped. Somehow, a ninja had overheard their squeals and giggles in a restaurant and since nothing gossips more than a bunch of ninja, Tenten had eventually gotten to know.

The news had devastated her and she had immediately lost all the energy she would have used searching for the Hyuuga and so she gave up her hunt. Going to her apartment after had been the worst idea she'd had all week because memories – both pleasant and not – had invaded her mind as if to make up for the week she had suppressed them. Frustration, anger and self-pity had inevitably set in and so, as the sun made its descent, she'd set off for the one place she could truly relax in, no matter the circumstances.

As the weapons' mistress tried to keep her shoulders from slumping, she blinked back the tears that were prickling in her eyes and fought to keep her face as blank as ever. The heaviness in her chest would not go away however, no matter how deep she breathed in and her breath was beginning to come in sharp fast breaths…she really needed to reach the clearing soon. Her pace picked up and before long, she was rushing toward her destination…the diamond sparkles in the quickly fading light behind her, the only indication of her distress. Finally reaching the area, she came to a stop, trying to catch her breath. Her cheeks felt strangely cold, as if they were wet or something… Walking around slowly to get a feel of the place again before sitting down, she looked up at the sky, sighing heavily. After several minutes of staring at the sky and wishing she could fly across its expanse to escape from the situation, the kunoichi lowered her face, only for the breath to catch in her throat as the back of a shadow came into focus.

"N-Neji?" she whispered in surprise.

He heard her nevertheless and turned around slowly to look at her with those detached and yet piercing silver eyes that she used to get lost in but that now caused her great pain and regret. The ache in her chest suddenly became more intense and it became tighter, as if it really didn't want air passing through it.

"Neji, I-I…what are you doing here?" she asked again when he just continued to stare at her coldly. He might as well have been made from stone.

"What business is that of yours?"

Tenten winced and lowered her eyes; ok, she deserved that. Fighting violently against the overwhelming urge to flee from his frosty aura, she lifted her head but did not look at him as she spoke, successfully keeping the croak from her voice.

"I've been searching for you…" He raised an eyebrow at this and she found herself having to push down that overwhelming urge again.

Tenten found herself at a loss for words. The previous week's frustration had reached its peak and she had been practically dying to talk to Neji and explain herself – after an apology of-course…she had hoped he would be receptive. Now, as she stood there with every instinct in her body screaming at her to run from his cold ambience, she didn't know what to do. He was to be engaged to _another_ woman soon and that meant there was no hope for them at all. If she thought her chest couldn't get any tighter, she was proven wrong as the pain in her chest heightened with the realization that perhaps Neji didn't want her anymore. It wouldn't be his fault either…not after what she'd done to him.

Resigning herself to her fate, the weapons' mistress discreetly took a deep breath and tried to make the best of the situation at hand.

"I heard you are getting m-married s-soon." Damn her voice for cracking. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "I wanted to congratulate you…so, congratulations," she finished off adding a chuckle – no matter how forced – for good measure.

Neji narrowed his eyes, staring at her for a moment before closing them and exhaling visibly, as if in frustration. She was glad that she'd managed to pull it off – though barely – and decided it would be better to turn around and go cry – for that is what she really wanted to do – in her apartment instead; at-least she'd be alone there. Of-course that was before Neji opened his eyes and fixed her with a stare of such intensity, she took a couple of steps back in astonishment.

"Lying doesn't become you Tenten." He didn't harden his voice…he didn't have to. The solid silver gaze fixing her in place said it all.

The kunoichi had been unguarded, believing she had fooled him and so the unwavering probing and slight disappointment in his gaze hit her hard. Recovering quickly though, she gave a wistful smile and surrendered bits of the remaining information to him.

"I…also wanted to…apologize for my behavior last week. It was inappropriate and what I said was completely unfair to you…" It didn't sound personalized at all, she knew, but keeping it formal and technical helped rein in her emotions a little. It was a good tactic but it wasn't working as well as she'd hoped.

The overwhelming longing to rush over to him and fist her hands in his shirt, feel his strong arms around her and his breath on her neck was crushing her and she felt hot tears pool in her eyes again. Damn! She never could control her emotions when it was vital to her ego.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, head bent and hands fisted. When the tears stopped threatening to fall, she'd turn around and leave with whatever dignity she had left. If she stayed any longer, what remained of her walls would crumble and she'd completely lose control of her emotions.

Tenten heard rustling and looked up, only to see him taking slow strides toward her, holding her gaze with his own silver burning one. Her breath hitched as her stomach did a strange little flip-flop, both of which had nothing to do with the tightness in her chest. Neji continued to walk toward her, slowly, confidently, like a panther taking its time because it knew it had its prey transfixed.

"Is that all?" he all but growled when he'd finally stopped before her, standing in her personal space.

"Y-yes," she replied with a frown, ignoring the slight stutter and meeting his gaze with a steady one of her own – unshed tears and all. He was starting to make her feel defensive and when she did, she got angry.

"You're lying." His tone was flat, confident, as if what he'd said was the undeniable truth. That was just downright irritating.

"What do you want me to do?" she snapped.

He studied her for a moment, eyes boring into hers and just when she'd started to feel uncomfortable with all his staring, his hand shot out and hit a tree behind her, making her jump in surprise. Ok, so he had her cornered; she hadn't known there was a tree that close behind her.

"Tell the truth," he said simply. With his hand extended out to the tree, he was undeniably closer to her and Tenten felt a sort of panic start to rise up as the fact that she was cornered by a _man_ registered.

"Neji…" She wanted to tell him to step back from her. That if he didn't they would have a repeat of the incident when she had struggled against him in horror; she hadn't yet fully overcome her revulsion to human touch. Instead, a whispered and shaky "I can't" is what came out of her mouth.

"Try," he whispered.

Tenten was startled. As she looked up at him, she saw emotions in his eyes that almost mirrored her own. He was letting her see how the whole situation had affected him and she was grateful for it, though it felt like she was stepping on some secret ground. He was scared – well, as scared as Neji could get – and he was asking her to _try_ and voice her own feelings. If not for them both, then at-least for him…he needed to hear what she had to say and he was letting her know it. Knowing this helped her relax a little; at-least he wasn't pushing her or demanding for answers. He was giving her as much space and freedom as she could have, even with him standing that close to her.

The kunoichi would have gladly obliged if it weren't for the fear creeping up in her. Suddenly, she felt like she was 17 years old again and was standing in-front of Neji, ready to confess her constantly suppressed feelings for him but hesitating for fear of rejection. He'd helped her along then and hadn't rejected her – well, not really anyway – but this was a completely different situation; this time, there was not even a sliver of hope for her.

She closed her eyes and as the tears broke from the prison she'd been trying to build for them, her words were freed as well.

Neji listened as Tenten told him about her frustrations that fateful night, how she had finally understood and was grateful for what he'd done – or _not_ done rather. He frowned when she went through her horrible week and felt his heart ache when she told him she didn't believe they had a chance to be together anymore. He was getting married soon after-all.

Even as elation filled him at the realization that she'd longed for him as much as he had for her, the sight of her tears still disturbed him considerably. Normally, he would hold her close and kiss away her tears and pain but this time, he couldn't. The initiation of touch would have to be her move if she was to truly get over her personal demon; she had to _want_ it, and for the right reasons. But even though he couldn't reassure her physically – no matter how much he ached to touch her – he still had the use of his words.

"Tenten," he called gently, making her open her deep coffee-brown eyes and look at him. The troubled look in them disturbed him greatly but he continued nevertheless.

"I create my own destiny; no one can choose my fate for me," he spoke, reminding her of the words he lived by.

"But Neji…"

"The clan cannot decide how I'll live my life, just as they cannot choose who I'll spend the rest of my life with," he cut her off, staring pointedly into her eyes. She could be so stubborn some times.

"I…" she started to say but trailed off, pausing for a moment. Suddenly, she took a step toward him, fisted her hands in his shirt and buried her tear-stained face in his chest.

Neji stood stock still and refrained from wrapping his arms around her. She had not yet touched his bare skin and he was sure if _he_ touched her there and then, she would flinch from him. He had to let her do this by herself.

Tenten eventually looked up at him and if she was confused at his lack of touch, she didn't show it. Hesitating briefly, she raised her heels and touched her lips to his in a chaste kiss. Neji didn't pull away, but he didn't push the kiss forward either…she had to do more than just that.

He could tell she was nervous and unsure but she continued regardless, and when she opened her mouth, he let her invade his own and lead the kiss. The Hyuuga's iron-control was beginning to slip though and he braced his second arm on the tree, wanting her to cross the bridge all the way without his help.

Tenten finally lifted her hands to touch him and he felt euphoria engulf him as her hands trailed along the bare skin of his neck. She had _touched _him of her own free will and he didn't sense any erotic need in her kiss. To her, it was a brave step in the direction she'd been too afraid to take previously; it was something she was trying out again amidst all her brokenness…it was a healing kiss.

Neji eventually raised his own hands after a while and touched her gently but firmly. After stiffening slightly, the weapons' mistress immediately relaxed and allowed the ANBU captain to take over. She had a long way to go yet, but this step had been a necessary first and she knew she would get through the rest no matter what. Besides, this time, she had a genius to help her along the way…she had been wrong, she _did _need him.

**XXXXXX**

Tsunade had just about had it with everyone in her office. The day had been nice, perfect weather and little paperwork…she hadn't needed a reason to drown herself in _sake_. That had promptly ended the moment Inuzuka Kiba burst into her office, almost breaking down the door in his attempt to rush in as fast as possible and relay to her whatever 'delightful' news had put him in such a mood. Of- course it had not been good news; Inuzukas did not have protective psychotic rages of any sort unless something had happened to their pack. The news that Hinata was missing and that Kiba had tracked her scent up till the Village's outskirts had made her want to down her whole stash of alcohol in one go.

Hearing that the scents mixed with hers were identical to the ones identified during Tenten's disappearance had almost caused the buxom woman to choke on her own spit. How could a day move from being absolutely perfect to horribly dreadful in a matter of minutes?

She'd done the safest thing she could and sent a chuunin to summon Hyuuga Hiashi to her office; he as clan head was inevitably involved in the matter. His counsel on the situation involving the clan heiress _and_ his first born daughter would have to be sought – no matter how much she did not want to hear it.

An enraged Hiashi had stepped into her office without invitation – though to look at him, one could hardly tell – and insisted that Hinata's formal guardian, one Hyuuga Neji, be summoned immediately. She'd groaned in frustration when she had asked how the Hyuuga lord had gotten to know the news. Apparently, the chuunin had overheard Kiba's frantic yells – who in the village hadn't – and when he'd faced Hiashi, he had been intimidated into producing the reasons for the sudden summons to the Hokage's office.

Sighing in frustration, the Slug Princess had obliged and sent the same terrified chuunin to look for the ANBU captain along with Tenten; any information from her about her former captors would be helpful. Thankfully, Neji had been less inquisitive and had arrived in her office along with Tenten ignorant to the situation at hand but had stiffened instantly after seeing his clan head and reading the aura in the room.

Tsunade rubbed her temples and leaned back in her chair with a sigh; someone up there _really_ had it in for her.

"Hiashi-sama, Tsunade-sama," Neji said, bowing to each of them in turn and Tsunade frowned. His formal manner had always been somehow irritating and she almost rolled her eyes when he looked at her inquisitively as if to ask what was going on.

"Hyuuga Hinata is missing from the village and we have reason to believe that she was abducted by the same culprits who captured Tenten," she said, giving his silent question an answer.

The Hyuuga prodigy's eyes widened considerably and the weapons' mistress' mouth hang open in shock as all aspects of the situation sank in. At that rate, whatever had happened to Tenten would happen to Hinata and all three of them knew it.

"This is ludicrous. Discussing this is an absolute waste of time; this is no time to be standing around talking," Hiashi's cold voice pierced the shocked silence that had befallen them.

"He's right; we need to do something now! Hinata is our teammate, let Shino and I lead the rescue operation," Kiba all but yelled, completely oblivious to the deathly glare sent his way by none other than the Hyuuga lord himself. Even though it seemed all Hyuuga were born with an evil-eye, Hiashi's was on a whole other level.

"No, this is a clan matter and shall be dealt with as such. We shall not relinquish our duty to those of inferior skill who lack proper decorum." Though his face was as impassive as ever, the sneer in his voice was almost palpable. It seemed Hiashi did not like to be cut short while talking.

Almost snarling, Kiba glared back at the aristocrat.

"Oh now you do your duty. Yet when Hinata needed you to be a _father_ to her years ago, you pushed her aside. Now that she has grown strong you suddenly want her back; how convenient."

"Kiba," Tenten called in surprise as Hiashi's eyes narrowed a fraction and the temperature in the room seemed to plummet as the air thickened with the tension.

Neji cleared his throat. "Hokage-sama, with your consent I will gather an ANBU team to rescue Hinata-sama and bring her back." His fingers were balled into fists so tight that his hands were trembling slightly and his formal tone had sounded forced. Tsunade understood; the situation was eating up at him and the fact that he couldn't react to it without letting Tenten's secret out was driving him to the edge.

"No way in hell am I gonna let a bunch of ANBU rescue my teammate! No one can track her as well as Shino and I can!"

"The byakugan is necessary for this sort of mission and though your skills are estimable, the ability to see in all directions for a mile is indispensable," Neji retaliated with as much calm as he could muster, which wasn't much seeing as how his words came out in a low hiss which made even Hiashi raise his eyebrows.

"I don't have time to listen to this nonsense, so what if you can see for a mile? Do you even know where to start looking?"

The situation was getting out of hand. Hiashi and Neji looked like they were about to swallow Kiba who in turn looked just about ready to unleash a Gatsuga on them. Tenten had decided to stay out of the whole thing – clever girl – and she was standing away from them; though the way she had balled her fists looked like she was about to hit her limit. Tsunade did not want to have craters and cracks in her office due to the fight that was soon to come, so she did the one logical action her mind could produce.

"Enough!" she called as her hand slammed on the desk before with such force, it cracked.

Silence followed her outburst but not mellowness. Tenten turned to her in surprise while the other three men in the room just turned their glares on her.

"I understand all your concerns but first and foremost, Hyuuga Hinata is a ninja of Konoha and so a proper well balanced team will be sent to rescue her. I have already decided which team it shall be and there shall be no further discussion on the matter; is that understood?" she did not wait for an answer, she didn't have to. As Hokage, there was little anyone could do to defy her in such matters.

At that moment, there was a sharp knock on the door and after a curt "come-in," it opened to reveal none other than Aburame Shino and Haruno Sakura.

Tsunade exhaled and after a brief pause, explained the situation to the two. Sakura's shock was evident and even though Shino did not say anything, the deep furrow formed at his brow was enough to show his consternation. Not waiting for them to voice their reactions, Tsunade appointed the team before her their mission.

"Hyuuga Neji, you're to lead Haruno Sakura, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Tenten on an A-ranked mission to rescue Hyuuga Hinata and bring her back to the village. You leave tomorrow at dawn!" She had not expected the reaction she got.

"What?" several voices called out.

"This is preposterous; a byakugan cannot remain unprotected for that long."

"Yeah! Who knows what they could do to Hinata in a _whole night_!"

"I must say I agree with Kiba on this one," Shino said.

Tsunade glared at all of them until they were silent. "I will not send a group of tired and unprepared jounin on a mission this important. If we lose Hinata, we'll be losing a very potent ninja, a clan heiress and a byakugan user; I will not have that happen. You are all to prepare to leave at _dawn_ else I will assemble a more co-operative team."

There those glares went again, but this time she smirked…there was nothing they could do about it.

"Dismissed."

She raised an eyebrow when everyone left but Hiashi and Neji.

"I hope you know what you're doing Hokage-sama. This is my daughter and I will _not_ have anyone play with her life no matter who they are." The words were spoken calmly but the chilling effect they had was profound; Tsunade was truly glad the man did not know what his daughter's captors had done to Tenten.

"I understand your concerns Hiashi-san and I will do my best to ensure she is returned safely."

"That is not enough. She is an heiress to the Hyuuga clan and must return unharmed. The team you have chosen is flawed in several areas and if Hinata comes to any harm whatsoever, it shall be my duty to protect her honor by ensuring her captors _and_ those who failed in their role of rescuing her get precisely what they deserve."

The slug princess raised her eyebrows at this. The man was clearly incensed if his aura, narrowed eyes and threats were anything to go by. It was good he was finally showing distress at having his _daughter_ – and not the clan heiress – in danger, but it was another story if he attacked her teammates for allowing a single scratch to get on her.

"The team I have chosen is very competent and is composed entirely of jounin. They are more than enough when it comes to the situation at hand."

"Very well then, have it your way but I still stand by my word." He turned to Neji, "I leave the rest to you. Do not fail."

"Yes Hiashi-sama," he replied with a bow.

The Hyuuga lord walked out of the office and Tsunade almost breathed a sigh of relief…the man had a way of carrying tension into a room almost effortlessly.

"What can I do for you Neji?" she asked as she reached for the rest of the paper-work. Her desk would have to be fixed soon if it was to hold heavier stashes.

"Hokage-sama." He seemed hesitant. "Tenten…I believe it would be best if she were left out of this particular mission."

Tsunade paused in her writing and gave the Hyuuga an intense look. "Why is that?"

After a pause, he replied. "I don't believe she is psychologically prepared to handle the strain this task shall put on her."

"You mean you don't think she can handle facing her rapists so soon after." The blonde Hokage smirked as she saw the stoic ANBU captain almost wince at her words.

"If something happens and _those_ men get their hands on her again…if they _touch_ Hinata-sama I will…"

"Neji, they are both stronger than that and you of all people should know that." She cut him off before he could continue. The anger in his eyes was intense and his fists were starting to shake yet again. The situation had pushed all involved to the edge.

"Tenten is a strong and capable ninja. I'm sure she will surprise you if you give her a chance plus this is a good opportunity for retribution…for you both," she finished with an understanding smile.

The Hyuuga prodigy did not seem convinced though but bowed to her nevertheless and walked out of her office. That overprotective attitude of his needed to be tweaked just a bit if he was to survive any sort of romantic relationship.

The news that Hyuuga Hinata had been abducted would spread like wildfire among the ninja and she dreaded the barrage of questions and diplomatic suggestion that would be provided by the council. Seriously, it was about time for her to hand over her Hokage mantle to someone else…she was just about sick of it.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N**: allow me to explain a few things:

First of all, I don't believe Hiashi truly hates Hinata like some people write in their fics – though they are entitled to their views. I think he is just a man who fell victim to all the politics of his clan but didn't have the will to challenge them. He knows there are particular things expected of him as clan-head and he has to adhere to these laws, but once in a while, love and concern for his progeny shines through. I could have made him insist on leaving to rescue his daughter but Hyuuga clan politics are shown to be rather complex and a leader does not _just_ leave on a whim, so the role fell to Neji.

Also, about the NejiTen scene, if it wasn't as amazing as you'd thought it would be then please try to understand. I'm just not a romantic person at all. So sorry for the cheesiness and the strangeness and the wanting to make you gag…well, you get it.

So, tell me what you think about it; in other words, _**review**_. (^_^)


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: thanks go out to all my reviewers…um…I'm sorry for taking long to update, buuut exams, writer's block, unnecessary plotlines, sudden illnesses – well you get the idea – are to blame, not me. Ehehehe

**Disclaimer:** Really?

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 10_

…**even in frustrations and breakdowns.**

Not a single sound could be heard and she vaguely wondered why. The sounds of soft footsteps moving along the corridors were what she usually woke up to in the Hyuuga compound; had she woken earlier than the usual time? As she fought against the haze of sleep over her, Hinata wondered why her body ached…she had not gotten any injuries recently but yet…

The heiress' eyes suddenly snapped open, flitting around the dark room as the last few moments she could remember flashed through her mind. She had been struggling against some men who had grabbed at her, trying to pin her down, but even with her bulky attire, she had managed to defeat both of them. A third must have been present however for her last recollection was of a sharp pain at the back of her head and everything had gone black.

She was leaning against something hard – maybe a wall – in an awkward position. The bindings that restrained her were rather tight and no matter how much she tried, she could not alter her position to a more comfortable one. Struggling against them did not help for they just dug into her hands and any attempts to use her chakra to cut through were useless and left her feeling far too weak for such a small loss of energy. The cloth she had been gagged with was also fastened tightly and she could feel the burn across her cheeks as it dug into her skin.

Having long since learnt how to activate her byakugan without hand-seals however, she quickly did so and tried to get her bearings, not allowing herself to lose hope.

She was having trouble maintaining the technique for more than a few seconds but even for that little amount of time, she found she could not see past the walls of her cell. The very structures seemed to be fortified with chakra pulsating with such intensity, that her eyes began to hurt from the sheer brightness of it. Hinata frowned as she tried to look through the wall a second time; it was no use. What was going on?

Ninja were trained to detach their emotions from circumstances and think rationally but this was rather hard to achieve when one realized – as she had – that the situation was dire indeed. The room she had been left in was extremely small and she was sure there would be just a couple of inches left if she stretched her full length out…a grown man could not lie in it comfortably. The ceiling was rather low as well and Hinata could not help the feeling that the room had been specifically chosen to make her feel imprisoned.

Well, if that had been their plan, it was slowly working. Anxiety rose up in her and she felt panic start to grow with it as well; she was too emotional for a ninja and she knew it, but her emotions could not be suppressed so easily in such situations. It was at that point that she realized why she could not cut through the ropes; they were chakra-infused. Konoha had several of these but Hinata had read about some which drained chakra as well when stretched and knowing that these were undoubtedly the kind she had been bound with, the kunoichi stopped her struggling. She would need all the energy she could conserve. With nothing left to do but wait for her situation to change, she found her thoughts returning to the moments before her capture and her heart sank further.

It was probably just as well that there was no one there to mock her as tears ran down her cheeks, leaving hot trails in their wake…Naruto-kun's rejection was still fresh in her mind and her heart was bleeding as the raw emotions suddenly seized her. It was not proper for her to think such things especially when the situation called for emotionless logical thinking but she could not help it; this was the weakness her father had kept talking about. She had tried to be brave…she really had, but what had that done for her except make her an emotional wreck. Hinata shook her head suddenly in an attempt to get the depressing thoughts out…it didn't help much and just left her with a slight headache.

Her musings shifted from the dismal rejection she had endured to the most mundane of things; the dress Ino-san had given her for her birthday was too revealing for her taste and she really should have told the chuunin that. Also, as much as she liked Shino-kun, she would have to inform him that tagging her with a bug which relayed information of her whereabouts to him was a _tad _creepy and maybe it was high time that Neji nii-san knew that almost everyone was aware of his "relationship" with Tenten-san…

The Hyuuga heiress vaguely wondered why these inane thoughts were occupying her mind when she was supposed to figuring out ways in which to make her escape…maybe it was a form of shock or perhaps…

The darkness in-front of her shifted suddenly allowing a bright light to assault her optical nerves, temporarily blinding her as a result. It was as if a door had just been opened and the light beyond was a sudden shock to her vulnerable eyes. A figure stepped in the way however, giving her relief from the brightness.

"Ah, so you're awake," a deep voice spoke much too loudly for her strangely sensitive ears.

The silhouette crouched in order to meet her at eye level and Hinata struggled to identify the facial features of the man before her. He chuckled when she squinted and reached a hand out to cup her face causing her to jerk in surprise.

"Don't strain yourself sweetheart, you'll soon be out of here. And when Makoto-san is done with you, we'll have our fun," he said with another chuckle.

She felt a hand on her thigh and stiffened.

"You won't need those pretty eyes of yours when we're through with you though."

Hinata tried to decipher the meaning of his words…they didn't make much sense. Who was Makoto-san and what did he want with her? She could hear the sneer in the man's voice but still could not see his face. A small sharp pain in her thigh registered somewhere in her mind and she wondered whether the man had just pinched her.

She was beginning to feel drowsy and her thoughts began to wander again. Neji nii-san would undoubtedly be furious when he realized she was gone. Kiba-kun and Shino-kun's reactions would be no different. She felt somewhat sorry for the man before her at that moment for in her foggy mind, there was no doubt that her friends would come for her; and they would not have any mercy when they faced her captors. She vaguely heard the man say something close to "off you go to sleep now," or was it "if you go leap now?"

As the man stood up before her suddenly heavy eyes and moved to close the door once more, she wondered what Neji nii-san would do to him. A childish phrase that fit her captor perfectly flitted across her mind …

'Dead man walking…'

**XXXXXX**

It was almost dawn; she had to hurry! Having had a fitful night, she'd had inadvertently slept in…she could not afford to be late however and so her pace increased. As her blond hair fluttered behind her and the cold morning air hit her freezing face, Ino wondered how she had gotten herself tangled up in such a mess.

A few days back, Morino Ibiki from the Torture and Interrogation Unit had approached her with an offer only few got; he'd wanted her to join the Unit but only after a series of tests. If she passed, she would be awarded a Special-jounin title and assigned to the specialized division; he'd given her a single night to think about it. After talking to her dad and a few friends about it, she had decided to accept the offer.

Shikamaru though, had not been too pleased about it and had muttered something about how that line of work turned people into hardened sadistic beings. He had been right in his own way –Anko was a perfect example – but she'd told him to just be happy for her at the very least and had assured him she would not be turning into an Anko anytime soon.

But now, Ino wished she had considered her boyfriend's advice. Her tests had required her to do things she would have never thought of even in her nightmares and her body ached from the physical exertion it had been forced to endure in the past two days. It didn't matter if her father had been in that Unit for a long period of time, she was ready to quit! The exhaustion she felt at that moment was unbelievable and she honestly wished she had not accepted the insane offer.

Maybe if she had not been this busy, she would have been able to join Hinata's rescue team. The news had come as a shock to her but her fatigued brain had shut down before she could ponder on it any further. It seemed like her life was just going in a direction opposite to her friends'. The very least she could do was see her friends off before they left to get Hinata back; so she put all her energy in reaching the village gates as fast as possible.

"You honestly can't expect me to stay behind."

That sounded like Tenten.

"Anything can go wrong and…it's just too soon."

Ino came to a sudden halt as Neji's voice reached her ears and she realized that she had been about to intrude on a private conversation. The two were facing each other, oblivious to her approach…perhaps she should inform them of her presence before…

"Good, we're all here," a voice called and Ino turned sharply to see Kiba walking along with Shino and Sakura. He was not in his usual good-humored mood and she could understand why…for most of the team, the situation was personal.

"Yamanaka Ino; it's surprising to see you here. Will you be joining us?"

She shifted slightly in discomfort as all five pairs of eyes suddenly turned her way, some widening briefly in surprise. It was nice of Shino to point out her presence, but it also gave her the sudden realization that it was only her team, Team Asuma, that was not involved in the mission. She would not be joining them and neither would Chouji or Shika but that didn't mean that the mission was of any less importance to her.

"No, actually I'm afraid I won't be. The examinations have me occupied," she replied nervously, not knowing what to say exactly. She didn't exactly socialize much with the guys in the squad – though Kiba could be counted as an exception…an idea suddenly hit her.

"I am here to…represent my Team. Hinata is our friend as well and though I might not be on this particular team, well…when I pass my exams, I will interrogate those, those _psychos_ to an inch of their miserable lives. So save some of their miserable behinds for me!" Her fists were clenched by the time she was done and her eyes flashed in anger; she meant every word she had said.

The tension in the air seemed to ease after Ino's speech and Tenten smiled slightly while Sakura nodded her approval. Neji and Shino showed no physical reactions to whatever she had said, but then again, she hadn't expected them to.

"I'll try but I can't promise to hold back when I face those damn maniacs," Kiba said with a rather malicious grin.

"Very well then, let's depart. Time is of the essence," Neji said.

"Right!" Sakura said while Kiba's grin just widened.

Ino stayed watching the gate moments after they'd left as she silently wished them luck. There was no doubt in her mind that they would succeed, but…those guys had had the ability to capture a Master of weapons _and_ a Hyuuga. Yes, a team of jounin was going after them but…still…

**XXXXXX**

Shikamaru was getting irritated. It was bad enough leading a couple of ninja whose emotions and personalities were at opposite extremities and who couldn't seem to settle in each other's presence even on a highly ranked assassination mission. But when said ninja were more distracted than usual, it spelt certain death for all of them. No matter how troublesome it was, he had to do something about it.

Sasuke seemed far too pleased with himself, almost to the point of being smug but it was Naruto's mood that was annoying him more than anything. The whiskered ninja had a permanent frown on his forehead and though his lips were set in a grim line, it seemed to have nothing to do with the mission. Normally he would be talking non-stop about the oncoming task, which was usually distracting but the strange silence from him was even more so.

"Let's slow down."

This seemed to snap the blond out of it. "What; but we've only been going for 3 hours Shikamaru and it's only a few hours after dawn."

"Don't be so troublesome Naruto. If we continue with this pace at this time, people will notice us since the forest is thinning out considerably and we'll most certainly be dabbed as ninja which defeats the purpose of being incognito."

"Regardless, our clothes and gear will still set us apart," Sasuke retorted.

Shikamaru sighed as he stopped completely on a thick branch, causing the other two to do the same, and reached into his pack to pull out a couple of brown cloaks.

"Here, these should do the trick, and Naruto, tie a cloth over that ridiculously wild mane of yours."

"Hey!" the blond yelled, momentarily back to his old personality but accepting the cloak and following the instructions nonetheless.

"And I need you two to concentrate, we're entering enemy territory here."

Naruto blinked at him in confusion while Sasuke raised an eyebrow; he was stating the obvious to them, he never did that unless prompted to – usually by someone else.

With an irritated sigh, Shikamaru explained.

"Look, forget whatever is on your minds and focus on the mission for this time else we'll all die. You two seem to have forgotten that."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably while Sasuke produced one of his irritating grunts. Nevertheless, the rest was up to the two of them, though Shikamaru couldn't help but hope that things didn't go wrong just because those two couldn't get girls off their minds. He knew those frowns and smug smirks almost as well as he knew that they would not disappear even in the face of danger…after-all, thoughts of a certain blonde blue-eyed girl had once done the same to him.

Girls.

How troublesome.

**XXXXXX**

Dusk was fast approaching and they needed to find a place to spend the night before it got too dark for any of them – except Neji – to find their way around the forest. Tenten wasn't completely averse to the idea of travelling at night, but the sky was quickly darkening with clouds that would completely block out any moonlight, though it didn't seem like it would rain soon.

"There is a clearing one kilometer due west, it should be sufficient."

The jounin changed course according to their team-leader's directions. He had been silent throughout the journey and Tenten was starting to feel rather anxious as a result. They hadn't had a chance to talk since their disagreement earlier that day and her mind had been occupied with various thoughts. This particular mission was personal and thoughts of facing her captors in combat filled her with an overpowering need to prove herself. She was itching to show that she was not just some weak kunoichi and the memories of _what_ they had done to her caused such fury to rise up in her that she had to clench her teeth several times to keep from yelling in frustration.

To put it simply, she wanted revenge.

This was drastically uncharacteristic for her and she'd been genuinely surprised when the Hokage had assigned her to the mission; surely the woman must have known the feelings that would rise up as a result. But all that didn't matter…the bastards had what was coming to them. The fact that they'd captured Hinata just made everything worse. She was the most undeserving of the situation and every time Tenten remembered the last conversation she'd had with the heiress, guilt would engulf her. They could _not_ afford to fail!

Neji clearly shared her sentiments if the pace he had set was anything to go by and judging from the fact that no-one had complained, so did the rest of the team. But the byakugan user had been mostly silent all through the journey and the thought of the inner torture he was enduring was tearing at Tenten; but there was nothing she could do. He hadn't wanted her to join in on the mission and though she'd understood his view, there was no way she could have followed his wishes. The resulting argument had been cut short however and she hoped they would reach their destination soon…she needed to talk to him.

Shino had tagged Hinata with one of his kikai bugs and even though it seemed like they were simply going in random directions that would change suddenly every now and then, the Aburame had – with an air of indignation – stated that 'yes' he knew what he was doing and Tenten had let it go. The very idea of having an insect plastered on her body without her knowledge sent a shiver down her back though and she hoped the quiet man did not make a habit of doing that.

"We will make camp here for the night," Neji stated as they entered the clearing.

It was hidden well enough and they would be able to detect an enemy before they were ambushed; he had picked a good spot as usual. A small smile made its way to her lips at the thought and she began to slip the pack off her weary back. Not being one to vacillate, Neji quickly assigned tasks to everyone and that's how she found herself setting up cautionary traps around the clearing as the Hyuuga and Kiba scouted the surrounding area ahead of her.

Her knowledge of weaponry enabled her to set traps in ways and places people would never expect them since she knew how the most mundane of things could function as a deadly weapon.

A low buzzing hit her ears as she landed on the ground and a few quick back-flips were what saved her as the earth she had been standing on lit up with blindingly white sparkles of electricity.

"Aah sweetheart, you've got surprisingly good reflexes."

Tenten froze! She _knew_ that voice.

"_Sweetheart, don't cry. This is what men do…"_

She spun around suddenly; an impossible number of kunai jutting out between her fingers, ready to rip whatever throat had uttered those words apart.

"You…" she trailed off, her voice abruptly cut off with a small choke.

She had expected to see an ugly, hooded being but…but the man standing before her was as normal as they came. He was staring at her with dark gleaming eyes and a small smirk playing at his lips. The simple attire wore could have passed for either ninja or civilian and his black hair was modestly cut. He looked anything but a rapist.

The man grinned sinfully at the wild look in her eyes. "I'm flattered you remember me sweetheart, it must have been unforgettably pleasant for you."

Bile rose up in the kunoichi's throat and she bit back a scream of fury. She had to remain calm, she just _had_ to. It wouldn't do to let him rile her…but the feeling of hands groping at her and touching her _every_where suddenly returned and she fought to still the tremor in her hands.

Raising a hand full of kunai, she thrust them towards him with deadly accuracy. Grinning widely, the dark-haired man produced a katana from virtually nowhere and swung it in a sharp arc in-front of him. Tenten watched in morbid fascination as lightning cackled down the blade, jumping off in short sweeps which hit her kunai, sending them off course.

"That won't work on me sweetheart," he drawled as the blades embedded themselves in the trees behind him.

Tenten calculated fast as she tried to keep the ever growing anger in her chest from clouding her judgment. Her Rising Twin Dragons would not help in the situation since his lightning might just send them off course or it may even travel up the chakra strings to electrocute her. Besides, anything metallic was a fatal choice; she would have to settle for her wooden rods. Summoning one from a small scroll, she stood in a battle ready stance…actions would have to speak for her since words had died unuttered on her tongue.

"Hm, smart choice. But let's see if you're any good."

Leaping into action, she ran towards her former captor in zigzags, trying to avoid the spurts of electricity he would send into the ground with his sword. She was fast and the smirk on his face had disappeared when she reached him and swung her staff at his head with blinding speed. He managed to drag his sword out of the ground however and met her staff in a powerful blow with his lighting-enhanced katana.

At that moment, Tenten was glad she paid extra for chakra-enhanced wood since her staff hadn't broken. They engaged in a tousle which had the man frowning after a few seconds and this increased her vigor.

"You're faster than I expected," he grunted, rubbing his chest where her staff had managed to make contact.

"Hn." She sounded like Neji now.

Ignoring his comment though, she tried to find an opening large enough to knock him out; if only that blasted sword would stay out of the way. The battle continued and as her mind cleared further of the anger that had been clouding it, she saw an opening.

Ducking under the buzzing arc of his katana, she twisted and brought her staff round to hit him at the back of his head right…_there_.

A hand stopped it though and as she tried to twist out of his reach, he dropped his sword and cupped her cheek.

Excruciating pain tore through her body at the contact and her back arched at a near impossible angle as a hoarse scream tore unbidden from her throat. The pain ceased after a while and she dropped to the ground, completely spent.

A chuckle sounded and she tried to push through the thick haze in her brain that was trying to force her into oblivion. What had happened? The weight her eyelids bore was amazing; had they always been this heavy? She forced her eyes to open though and they instantly widened at the proximity of the man's face. His dark eyes were boring into hers and that sickening grin was once again twisting his lips. She tried to force her body to move, but the nerves just weren't responding to her frantic brain signals.

His large hand came up to caress the sensitive skin of her cheek and she froze instantaneously as the bile rose up in her throat again.

"Yeessss, your skin is as soft as I remember…tell me how it felt. Did you like that sweetheart, would you like me to do it again?"

Her clouded mind could not exactly decipher whether he was talking about her battle or the rape, but as it yelled for her body to move, her hands jerked into motion.

With an enraged scream, she made to punch the bastard in the face, but he dodged it easily. Taking the opening, she grabbed her staff and put a safe distance between them.

He chuckled again and stood up grinning widely as if he was truly enjoying himself. "You made the mistake of thinking I could only use my sword to channel lightning. I'm excited to see what other mistakes you'll make."

Tenten narrowed her eyes in anger. Her body was aching but the adrenaline pumping through her system was quickly numbing the pain…she had to get the bastard! How dare he _touch_ her? She was panting heavily and her eyesight was darkening at the corners, but she didn't care, she was going to get him if it was the last thing she did!

Rushing towards him, she let the yell tear out of her mouth. The despicable man just giggled like a love-sick school girl and licked his lips as if anticipating something good. Ninja or not, the rage she felt could not be controlled and the blood pounding in her ears and the short gasps coming out of her mouth just drove her on…she had to get him, she _had_ to get _him_!

She wasn't his prey.

She _wasn't_ weak!

Oh, but she was…she was.

The thought wound its way into her head and as the realization came that she would not win the fight as broken as she was, a deafening noise reverberated all around her. The blast sent her hurtling through the forest straight into a tree with such force that she heard a crack. Black gleaming eyes and a hated smirk were all she saw before oblivion claimed her and a resounding thought passed through her head…

She had been careless.

**XXXXXX**

"Kaiten!"

The deep baritone resonated through the forest and he wondered how no one could have heard it, for surely they would have come if they had.

The giant wolves snarled and growled as one of their own hit the rotating chakra barrier and flew off with a loud whimper. Neji had long since grown tired – though enraged was more like it – of the beasts that just wouldn't seem to let him through.

He had barely slept the night before and the roiling mass of emotions that had been building up in him had not helped at all. The frustration, guilt and anger were eating at him and he thought he would go crazy soon. Seeing Tenten getting attacked by some maniac had almost driven him wild with fury but the rabid wolves attacked him before he could rush to her side.

It seemed they wanted to delay him more than kill him as they circled him and only attacked once in a while, but he didn't have time for that! He had tried incapacitate them but they didn't have normal chakra flow like other animals…they were simply just solidified shimmering masses of chakra with no tenketsu; definitely ninja summoned. But whoever had summoned them had not shown himself and the Hyuuga was close to snapping.

He stood in the classic Gentle Fist position as he scanned the area…Tenten seemed to be holding her own but that didn't change his urgent need to reach her, Kiba was…he was collapsed on the ground along with Akamaru and…and _Sakura_?

_What_?

His mind reeled for a moment before possible explanations flitted though his head. It had to be genjutsu; there was no other explanation for it! Sakura was quite a distance away from Kiba so…wait! She had experience in the illusionary arts, couldn't she have dispelled it? But whoever had placed the illusion to cover such a wide area must have been skilled however…it wasn't hard to imagine two jounin getting caught in such a trap.

Neji narrowed his eyes; he was going to get out of there _now_…

_Hell no_!

That _maniac_ had just electrocuted Tenten. That was it! Grabbing a handful of shuriken, he shot them at two wolves while he prepared for a complex tai-jutsu combination that would hopefully enable his escape. The beasts however, jumped over the weapons, and leapt towards him.

"Kaiten!" There had to be a way to get out of there!

He gritted his teeth and an animalistic snarl escaped his throat as he saw the bastard _touch_ Tenten. She jumped away after a few seconds, only to run towards him after a pause. Her movements were getting sloppy and Neji realized it was plain fury driving her on.

This was what he had feared; that she would not be able to face her captors without losing her cool…it was way too soon!

He began to subconsciously grind his teeth; he _had_ to find a way out of there! The thoughts running through his head were no longer coherent and a red haze was quickly beginning to replace them as his anger reached all new heights.

Tenten was being driven back and the idiotic maniac was grinning widely…wait, he had seen that structure before. She was headed straight for a…

"Tenten!" he called out, his voice sounding strangely hoarse and panicked to him; but she didn't give any indication of having heard him.

He knew it was futile but he opened his mouth to call her again, his heart beating wildly against his chest; he _had_ to warn her before she…

_BOOM_!

The force of the explosion blasted him into a tree as a horrifying sense of déjà vu engulfed him.

**XXXXXX**

Shino paused in his task of gathering fresh water for the team, something did not seem right. He grabbed the canteens he had filled and headed away from the stream, towards the camp. As he came nearer, the agitation of the kikai he had placed on Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru – at his own discretion of-course – became more apparent.

"Genjutsu," he whispered.

**A/N**: I hope you will all forgive me for my 'action scenes,' I have never been good at those. The story is taking longer than I thought it would to finish, but don't worry, we're in the homestretch…though how long a homestretch, I don't know.

But, do _**review**_ and tell me what you thought about this chapter. (^_^)


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**: I have posted 2 chapters in a row and I'm trying to please y'all, so these have not been reviewed by my beta; forgive any errors therefore. I might not update in a long while – forgive me – coz of all these clinicals, ward rounds, case write-ups – and the like – that plague med students…but I will do my best to update as soon as possible.

**Disclaimer:** am too tired to explain to a single thing any strange people who might actually think I own Naruto

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 11_

…**even in double losses.**

"Don't be an idiot!"

Sakura took an unconscious step back as Neji stopped in his tracks with Kiba standing before him, fists clenched and fangs bared.

"Get _out_ of my way." She swallowed at the chilling tone the words were spoken in…this was getting way out of hand.

"Who do you think you are anyway you..."

"I am team leader and I choose which steps to take," Neji cut him off. "I will not be responsible however, for what happens to you if you do not step aside."

"Neji stop and think for a moment; there's nothing you can do in the state you're in and you don't even know where she was taken." She fought the urge to take another step back as the Hyuuga's deadly glare was suddenly trained on her.

"Sakura's right. We need to rest up and you need to heal. It won't do to rush into the enemy's nest in our condition."

The medic sighed discreetly and mentally thanked Shino for diverting the Hyuuga's anger from her. She frowned as events of the past few minutes rushed through her head.

Apparently, her, Kiba and Akamaru had been caught in a genjustu; the information had been very humiliating, for her especially. She had spent quite some time studying genjustu and its dispersion and so to actually be caught in one was just downright shameful. Shino had injected his own chakra into their bodies, thus dispelling the illusion and she had woken up to disastrous news.

Tenten had faced one of their opponents and had been captured.

Neji, sporting a short but deep cut in his side and several lacerations that were still bleeding, had not allowed her to even come close to him – let alone heal him. Rather, he had been insistent on them going after Tenten there and then, but the rest of the team disagreed.

A heated argument had ensued between him and Kiba and with the occasional barks and snarls from Akamaru as tempers flared; the air had quickly gotten thick with the tension.

Sakura understood Kiba's anger. He was experiencing the same frustration she was with being caught in a trap so easily and now that the situation had become a little more complicated, he was on a short fuse. Having one of them missing just made the situation that much more difficult meaning Hinata's rescue would not go as planned and this had – to put it simply – pissed off the Inuzuka.

Neji on the other hand probably had it worse since he as the assigned protector for Hinata made it his personal mission to retrieve her unharmed and this had put quite some stress on him. Adding to that the fact that his _girlfriend_ – no matter how much they _both_ denied it – had been captured by the same people _again _while the rest of her team had been debilitated by simple jutsus, Sakura could begin to understand his barely contained fury and urgent need to storm whatever place they had been taken to. She just hoped both the jounin would be able to see reason and not pummel each other into the ground.

"Do you even know where they are genius?"

"My byakugan is superior to all eyesight, I will find them."

"Look Neji, maybe we should wait. If they are expecting us to go after them immediately, they will be prepared and they already know our numbers while we don't know theirs. We are at a disadvantage here…it wouldn't hurt to get some rest before we think of a plan," she interjected.

"We don't have _time_ for that, who knows what…"

"But there's nothing we can do at this point. If you force us to go as we are, most – if not all – of us will be heavily injured and end up dead; yourself included." Shino had a point and Sakura hoped the ANBU captain would listen to him.

"I would love nothing more than to kill all those psychos right now and rescue Hinata _and_ Tenten, but we are at a major disadvantage here without rest and a plan…they would wipe the floor with us and our antics might get the girls killed instead," Kiba said in the most quiet voice he had used since he woke up, though it still had a growl in it.

Neji paused for a moment, fists clenched and teeth clamped together…

"If none of you care for them, then I will go alone," he finally said with narrowed eyes, his face marred by a deep scowl.

Akamaru growled and Kiba snarled at him. "Don't you _dare_ question my loyalty to my pack you…"

"Hinata-sama is not some inferior canine who belongs to you and…" Neji almost yelled before he was cut off by a loud angry sounding bark from Akamaru.

"That's it!" Kiba yelled as he lunged towards the Hyuuga.

A loud buzzing filled the air and a swarm of insects suddenly descended on Kiba, making him stumble midway his jump towards Neji and fall to the ground. He fidgeted wildly, trying to get the bugs off him.

"Shino, what the hell?" the Inuzuka yelled.

"Both your sentiments are well understood but we are ninja. Our feelings must not get in the way of our judgment and we must respect our superiors," Shino said monotonously while still managing to sound rather threatening.

If the deep frown on the bug-user's forehead was anything to go by, he had had enough of the argument between the two and had taken steps to stop it.

Sakura stared at the bugs covering Neji's outstretched hands as he stood in the Gentle Fist stance; she for one, was definitely glad for Shino's intervention. Neji's byakugan deactivated and he dropped out of his battle-ready posture, sending a death glare at the Aburame.

"Very well, but we leave at dawn," he said in a clipped tone.

Shino nodded and his parasites retreated from both the jounins' bodies, leaving Neji to rub at his hands while Kiba stood up and dusted himself off as he 'humph-ed' every now and then.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and moved towards him with the intention of treating his wounds. He didn't say anything when she asked him to lie down and just followed the instruction, closing his eyes in the process. The medic got to work and frowned when she felt the tautness in his muscles; he was wound tighter than a spring. There was a permanent frown on his face and he swallowed repeatedly though his breathing was deep and slow as if he was trying to calm himself down…she could only just imagine the emotions he was experiencing at that moment.

Their dinner rations were eaten in silence and Shino had the first watch of the night…it was going to be a long night. She just hoped they would come out of it alive and possibly not captured as well.

**XXXXXX**

It was strange, and he didn't really understand it, but Naruto was excited to be going back to the village. It had nothing to do with the fact that though dangerous, their mission had gone off without a hitch, neither with the relieving thought that he would soon be having a hot bowl of ramen before him – not those _instant_ ramen cheap knockoffs. Rather, it had everything to do with a certain lilac-eyed, ink-haired, soft spoken princess he hadn't been able to get off his mind.

"Naruto, slow down already. You're being troublesome," Shikamaru called.

"Dobe."

Naruto ignored both of them; he couldn't wait to see her. Ever since he had convinced himself that Hinata-chan had not been serious about her confession, he'd felt strangely empty and as the day progressed, he'd eventually admitted to himself that he wanted it to be otherwise. But with this realization had come a lot of frustration as he still believed that no girl would ever willingly give themselves over to a jinchuuriki and someone as nice as Hinata-chan did not deserve such a…a _fate_? The fact that he'd admitted to something he had once beaten a Hyuuga for staunchly believing in still left him unsettled and he frowned as the 'conversation' he'd had with Sasuke came to mind.

"_Watch out! Where's your mind at dobe?"_

_Naruto barely managed to duck as a shuriken whizzed over his head. They were engaged in a scuffle with the comrades of the missing ninja they had just taken out._

_How had they been found out? Well…it might have had something to do with the vase Naruto had absentmindedly smashed as they had tried to make their escape…but then again, that was just a guess._

"_Oi Naruto, what's wrong with you?" Shikamaru asked as he sent an inky-black outline to strangle a man who could have very well beheaded the blond from behind._

"_Nothing!" he called out defensively as he formed a new set of clones. The guards were a little more skilled and more in number than they had estimated._

"_It's about that Hyuuga girl." _

"_Teme…how, what…how did you know about that?" he asked as he knocked a man out with one punch. He would have liked to wipe the smug look of the Uchiha's face with the same kind of blow but few people ever got what they really deserved anyway._

"_You kept muttering her name every few seconds on the way here dobe," Sasuke answered irritably as he gutted a particularly stout ninja with his sword._

"_Why don't you just ask her out Naruto, it's as simple as that."_

"_You don't know what you're talking about Shikamaru. She…she…what if…?" He just couldn't say it; they wouldn't understand anyway._

"_Coward."_

"_Teme! Take that back!"_

"_Or what? Just admit you're scared she won't like you…not that I would blame her."_

_Naruto dealt a particularly fierce blow to the ninja in-front of him at that and tried to stop himself from rushing over and strangling Sasuke for the comment._

"_Don't be so troublesome Naruto, just go for it."_

"_How can…?"_

"_Just do it dobe! It's time to take your own advice," Sasuke called as he passed his sword through one of the clones to get to a ninja behind it._

Naruto winced at the memory…he'd have to get the bastard back for that one.

But as much as it pained him to admit it – and it did, very much so – Sasuke was right…he had to take his own advice else it would make him a hypocrite. Telling the Uchiha to give Sakura-chan a try without doing the same thing for Hinata-chan was two-faced and the truth kept hitting him in the face all the time anyway.

He wanted her to be his and his alone…she had invaded his mind and taken over completely. It was strange how he could feel so strongly about someone after a near lifetime of barely noticing her but…but he was _sure _about this. _This_ was not some teenage crush and he wasn't entirely sure whether it was infatuation but he was going through with it…and…and _maybe_ if she accepted him, she'd come to truly love him with time. He'd make sure of that and he'd see to it personally that she would never come to harm; heck at this rate, he'd protect her even if she never loved him.

He was just in that deep.

He grinned as the Konoha gates were opened for them and sped through them to the Hokage's office as he wondered how to best ask Hinata-chan out. Maybe he'd ask her to a bowl of ramen after they made their report to Tsunade baa-chan…or perhaps…

"Hey dobe, wipe that grin off your face, we've reached."

Shikamaru knocked at the Hokage's door and after a faint 'enter' opened the door to allow them to enter before him. After the oral report which Naruto did not pay attention to at all, the nervousness set in but was quickly overshadowed with growing excitement.

"Hey baa-chan, have you seen Hinata-chan, I…I need to talk to her."

"Naruto, it's late. Don't you think you should get some rest first?" Tsunade inquired, completely ignoring the blond's question.

"Huh?"

Shikamaru perked up at this; the Hokage would have never cared one way or the other what the loud blond was up to as long as he wasn't bugging her for missions. Something was off. She also looked more worn out than usual with a slight droop to her shoulders…something was _very_ off.

"Did something happen?"

Apparently, the Uchiha had figured it out as well.

"Huh? What, did something happen to Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, obviously confused but wondering at Sasuke's question.

Tsunade sighed and rubbed at her temples…it had been a long day. Why oh why did it have to get worse?

"Hyuuga Hinata was captured yesterday as confirmed by Inuzuka Kiba while on a..."

"What? But we left yesterday…I _saw_ her before we left; how…"

"Then she must have been ambushed after you saw her Naruto. Inuzuka Kiba tracked her scent to the outskirts of the village and reported that there were hints of a struggle and…" Tsunade sighed as she was cut off again.

"What? Then what are we doing here, we have to go get her back?"

"Calm down dobe."

"A team of jounin was sent early this morning. They are more than capable."

She'd said that purely for Naruto's benefit seeing as how he was upset and rather panicked by the whole thing; she would go so far as to even say he was angry, which was strange. The shy Hyuuga girl would be undoubtedly pleased if she learned he was getting riled up over her but still, it was rather uncharacteristic of him.

"It is a high risk for someone to capture a grown Hyuuga. Has any information been unearthed about the captor?" Sasuke asked, curious as to how _anyone_ could successfully detain the Hyuuga heiress. She may have been shy but he had seen her fight…she had grown, _a lot_.

"Nothing, other than the fact that they were the same men who abducted jounin Tenten last month, as confirmed by both Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba."

"What?" Shikamaru whispered beneath his breath in shock.

Naruto didn't miss this however and also noticed the subtle way the Nara's body had tensed.

"You know something." It was not a question.

"It's not something that will help the situation," the shadow user said after a moment. There was no use in denying the blond's statement; he had been careless with his reaction in the first place anyway.

"Shikamaru, if you know something, you should tell us," he insisted.

"Like I said Naru…"

He was cut off as his back suddenly hit a wall with brutal impact. Naruto had moved so fast no one had been able to stop him as he pinned Shikamaru to the wall, eyes narrowed in sudden anger.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Tsunade almost yelled as she stood up from her chair. This really was proving to be one horrible day.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called, a hint of a question in his voice.

"I don't really care what you think right now, Hinata-chan's life might be at stake so if you don't…"

"Dobe, what…?"

"Stay out of this teme!" Naruto cut him off.

"You should calm down Naruto," Shikamaru said.

"Don't tell me what to do," he snapped as he shoved the Nara further against the wall for emphasis.

"Troublesome."

The whiskered blond narrowed his eyes further, he was about to blow his top. The tension in the room had risen suddenly but he wasn't about to back down. After their last mission, he had silently sworn he would protect her but now…now she was in the hands of some _kidnappers_ and God knew what they would do to her…he was well aware of the risks kunoichi faced. But there Shikamaru was, holding back information for a reason as stupid as 'he _didn't think_ it would help the situation;' he would beat it out of him if he had to, God help him!

"Naruto stop it!" Tsunade commanded. "I already know what the Nara over there knows and if you're so interested in it then listen; but if you repeat it aloud to _anyone_ I will skin you alive, _all_ of you." She paused to glare at each one of them to drive her point home – ignoring the glowers she received in return – before she sat down again in her chair and continued. At-least they were paying attention now.

"Tenten was brutally raped by her captors before she was returned. We hope though that this will not be the case with the Hyuuga heiress."

"_What_?" The blond, in his shock, let go of Shikamaru who rubbed at his chest with a frown.

Sasuke wasn't fairing any better as his eyes widened in surprise as well.

Tsunade blinked when she noticed Naruto's fisted hands trembling with what seemed to be suppressed rage; the news was enough to shock anyone, but his reaction was tending to the extreme. It was the kind one would expect a lover or father to have…not a simple friend.

"_Oh hell no_."

It was more of a growl that anything and the Godaime's eyes widened when Naruto turned to reveal maroon slit eyes. He had long since achieved control of the Kyuubi but the fox-like characteristics would return every time he experienced extreme anger…at least there were no fangs this time though.

She stiffened when the blond approached her desk and jumped slightly in surprise as he slammed tightened fists on her desk.

"Damn it! How could you have let this happen?"

"Naruto calm down," Sasuke said as he took a cautious step towards him.

"_Don't_ tell me what to do," he repeated, turning his slit glare on the Uchiha. "I'm going to save her."

"I will not allow that. The team I sent is more than able to…"

"I DON'T CARE! Something, _anything_ could go wrong, and then what?" He swiveled around to face her again with gritted teeth…aah, so the fangs had finally made their appearance.

"Have a little more faith in your friends Naruto. Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Kiba and Shino will bring her back," Tsunade replied smoothly.

It was a dirty card to play involving his friends like that, but she had to do whatever she could to stop him from doing anything foolish, even though his temper tantrum was beginning to work at her nerves. He seemed to have forgotten she could break his neck with just one finger.

The whiskered ninja seemed to consider that for a second before clearly dismissing it.

"I'm leaving," he growled, turning his back on her.

"You're not leaving me behind," Sasuke smirked though the only thought plaguing his mind was '_Sakura_.' Hell would freeze over before he ever let _anyone_ touch what was his.

"What?" Tsunade had just about had it with ninja who thought they knew everything.

"I'm sorry baa-chan but…I have to do this." He was sounding more like the man she knew but still…

The Godaime glared at all of them for a while before sighing in frustration; she had known it would turn out like this. Honestly, Naruto could give both Hiashi and Neji a run for their money when it came to overprotective sentiments.

"Fine, but you, _all_ three of you," she said with a glare at Shikamaru "will be sent in as re-enforcements. However, there's one more person I insist you go with as well."

It would work, besides, Hiashi had been nagging at her for sending such a small ill-prepared team to retrieve the '_Hyuuga heiress_;' the insufferable man! This had better please him. He had better be glad she hadn't lost it when he had – for the fifth time – insisted her assessment of the situation was flawed. She could have pounded him through her wall if she had wanted to by the way, just so everyone is clear.

Shikamaru sighed; why did it always have to be him? Honestly, couldn't they have left without him; Ino would kill him if he left the village again without seeing her.

"Who is it?" Naruto inquired, almost back to his usual self except for the impatience that was practically dripping from his voice.

Tsunade just smirked.

**XXXXXX**

There were no stars to be seen that night…that was apt. He would have _hated_ the heavens for being peaceful and remarkable while his very heart was in distress. The roiling clouds that told of an oncoming heavy storm fit the situation perfectly and he was strangely pleased to have nature in such a state…it was like the very environment was in turmoil over the events that had occurred.

Neji was no stranger to the short ends of sticks life tended to hand out but this…_this_ was driving him to the edge. He felt close to insanity as frustrations and spikes of pain that he had not felt for close to 8 years descended upon him in agonizing clarity. He had failed…_again_!

Slumber would not come to him and even if it did, he would not welcome it. How could he sleep at a time like this? _Tenten_ was…and Hinata-sama…

His pale eyes seemed to match the pallor of his face as they scanned the heavens, searching for answers to various questions the more confusing one being 'why?'

His teammates had violently disagreed with him on the topic of going after the captors there and then; he had felt like ripping their throats out. But now he felt like ripping his own hair out at the thoughts of what they could be doing to both Tenten and Hinata-sama. His eyes did not need to be closed for his mind to project all sorts of images across his vision; it was all he could do to not get up and run blindly in whatever direction his byakugan led him in.

It was almost dawn and his body was practically vibrating with the anticipation; he was going to _kill_ those maniacs…no, death was too good for them. He would cut off their limbs and blind them; _then_ drag them back to the village for Morino Ibiki to take care of them.

He growled at the thought of such scum – yes, _scum_ – actually taking ninja from the Hidden Leaf. It was abominable for any lesser shinobi to triumph over the elite of Konoha; to come in-between the bonds they had made. It was for this very reason that it was hard for Neji to consider the Uchiha as one of the Leaf's elite – the man had _willingly_ stepped into the darkness for goodness' sake!

The righteous anger that rose up in his chest at these thoughts was tainted by a much darker rage that filled his torso at the fact that what was _his_ had been – and possibly was still being – touched by another. Neji had long since abandoned rational thoughts and his rage was growing with every minute even though a small voice at the back of his head was nagging at him to get it under control. Memories of this fury had once scared him…to think that, because of it, he could have killed Hinata-sama… _This _rage – if it had not been quelled – would have driven him to wipe out the whole Hyuuga clan; thus serving to further link the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans together.

"Byakugan!"

Neji stood up abruptly, his thoughts suddenly interrupted by the faint sound of movement and he rushed towards the fast-moving figure he'd spied in his vision range. Without stopping to assess the chakra-signature, he slipped into the Gentle-Fist stance and moved to strike a fatal blow to the stranger's heart…

At-least that's what he tried to do before his hand suddenly stopped an inch from his target's chest and try as he might, he could not move it.

"Easy Neji, it's us," an indolent voice called out…wait…he _knew_ that voice.

"Shikamaru," he stated simply.

Any reply was cut off by the whisper of a sword returning to its sheath and Neji deactivated his byakugan to assess his target normally.

"Uchiha," Neji said, hints of surprise and disdain layering his voice.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke replied with equal mirth.

Shikamaru sighed and deactivated his Shadow Possession jutsu. If he hadn't stepped in when he had, Neji would have pumped Sasuke's heart full of chakra in a second and the Uchiha would have gutted the ANBU captain just as easily with his katana…he hated being there when these two met. It was just so…_troublesome_. They were like two snarling – highly egotistic – dogs; if they decided to rush at each other, it was impossible to tell who would get hurt in the process.

"What are you doing here?" Politeness was clearly lost on Neji.

Naruto chose that moment however, to drop down from the trees.

"Tsunade baa-chan sent us as re-enforcements," he told the glaring Hyuuga.

"We do not need any help." The sentence came out as a growl and Neji was surprised himself. He was at his limit; more people, while meaning more available manpower also meant more individuals to argue with – and he was already having a hard time controlling his current team.

"Hey, what's going on?"

They all turned to see Kiba and Akamaru come in from the direction of – what Shikamaru guessed to be – their camp with Shino and a confused looking Sakura following close behind.

"Naruto? _S-Sasuke-kun_?" Sakura asked, blinking owlishly as if she could not believe her eyes.

"Hey Sakura-chan," the blond responded in a low voice.

She raised an eyebrow at this but decided not to ask about it; there were more puzzling things happening. "W-what are you doing here?"

"The Godaime sent us as re-enforcements; why else would we be here?" Shikamaru replied rather pointedly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He was still rather cranky from the rushed pace Naruto had set for them.

"Where's the weapons' mistress?" Sasuke asked suddenly; startling nearly everyone.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the sudden rise of tension in the air and let out a silent sigh; this could not possibly be good news.

"We were engaged by the enemy and Tenten was captured," Neji replied in a controlled voice.

The following silence was utterly unnerving and the Hyuuga prodigy clenched his fists tightly as he glared at nothing in particular.

For the first time in his life, Sasuke sympathized with the Hyuuga; he would have gone mad if anyone had laid a single finger on _his_ Sakura. It was all he could do not to rush over and kiss her senseless, then reproach her for leaving the village on such a volatile mission without his knowledge.

"We need to plan our strategy but first; we have to exchange reports before that. There's something everyone needs to hear," Shikamaru said, managing to lighten the tension slightly by turning everyone's mind to work.

A figure dressed in black suddenly dropped from the forest canopy, down into the centre of the group.

"Sai?" Sakura asked, expressing the surprise felt by everyone on her team.

"Hello ugl…er, Sakura-san," he replied, finishing the sentence rather quickly at the venomous glare the medic had sent his way and the dark aura that had suddenly enveloped the Uchiha. Hmm, it seemed he was getting better at the whole reading-people-correctly aspect of the books.

"What did you find?" Shikamaru asked.

"There's a cabin re-enforced with various traps and chakra infused walls due east about 3 miles from here. My summons disintegrated after sometime of entering the building though," the former ANBU root member replied, suddenly all business.

"We should leave now," Neji stated, suddenly unable to keep a lid on his impatience.

"That would not be wise Lady Hyuuga; the enemy seems quite formidable. We need a plan," Sai responded.

There was complete silence again, though this time the tension had evaporated from the atmosphere and an amused air had replaced it – except for the deadly aura coming off the ANBU captain. Kiba had even started snickering and the strangely gloomy Naruto seemed about ready to smile.

"What?" Sai asked, utterly confounded.

"Um, Sai; Neji is…he's not a…well, he's a _he_," Sakura offered helpfully.

"But _he_ looks like a _she_. I've always thought sh…I mean _he_ was female," the pale man said after a moment of shock in an attempt to try and explain his reasons.

It wasn't his fault the captain looked like a woman and they had never really interacted, so he had no way of knowing. The deep voice might have been an indicator but all the books he had read had said to _never_ point out someone's disability and he had thought the Hyuuga was just a female with an abnormally deep voice…those kind of women existed.

"My apologies Hyuuga-san. Perhaps if I could find a nickname for you to show that my intentions were not hostile?" The situation could still be salvaged.

"We don't have time for…"

"Oh just let him take a whack at it Neji," Kiba interrupted the Hyuuga, and got a deathly glare in return.

"Hn."

Taking that as a yes, Sai stared at Neji for sometime – as Sakura and Naruto looked on worryingly; this was bound to end badly – before he smiled slightly at the name that popped up into his head.

"Sissy-kun," he stated simply.

The resulting crash as the unfortunate former ANBU root member flew into a tree – courtesy of Neji's Hakke hasangeki **1 **– was deafening.

The Hyuuga spun on his heel stiffly and walked off in the direction of the camp, leaving a snickering Naruto and a howling Kiba behind; he had had enough of the idiocy.

Shikamaru sighed as he followed the ANBU captain; what he would do once he learned that the perpetrators were from within the Leaf was anybody's guess. Hopefully Neji would store his resulting rage for the traitors.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N**: **1: ****Hakke hasangeki** means **Eight trigrams mountain crusher**. One of Neji's moves where I think he intensely gathers chakra in his extended arm and releases it at his target in one go. It usually crushes whatever it hits and is done with all the grace of the Gentle Fist style.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**: I am down on my knees begging for forgiveness: "Forgive me!" Now that _that_ is out of the way, allow me to explain. See, med school lives up to its name; no matter where you do it from, which climate or whatever planet, one thing will stand: it WILL – I repeat _will_ – suck the life out of you and cripple your fanfiction writing powers.

That said; this chapter felt a little rushed to me but am still trying to get my game back on…it might take me a while. Kisses go out to…for supporting me even when I hadn't updated for a while. Sooo, yeah! You guessed it; my long author's note is over. On to the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I've been stuck in med school for 4 months and the Naruto manga has still been coming out…I'm guessing that proves I don't own it…

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 12_

…**even in new strengths.**

Tenten was not a morning person; that much was certain. Her victories against Neji while sparring usually happened in the morning when she would attack him viciously for having said one thing or the other which hadn't appealed to her. As a result, the Hyuuga had learned to keep his mouth shut – though no one could really notice the difference since he was serially silent – until about 8.00 am; three hours later. So the fact that the weapons' mistress had woken from a non-restful sleep to find herself gagged, bound and locked in a dark room was not doing anything for her mood.

She stared at the small line of light that came from underneath what she guessed was a door as memories of what had happened hours back flooded her mind.

_Crap_!

How could she lose her cool like that? She was a ninja for goodness' sake; a kunoichi! Her emotions had _never_ gotten the best of her but now…it was a sign of weakness not to be able to control one's emotions and she had exhibited that flaw spectacularly.

Tenten squeezed her eyes shut as the image of her running towards her attacker while letting loose an almost animalistic-scream of fury flashed into her mind. She cringed as she wondered what Neji must have thought when he saw that; for he _had_ seen it…somehow she just knew.

No matter; this was not the time to ponder such things!

Behaving like the efficient kunoichi she was, the weapons' mistress quickly and effectively suppressed all her musings and emotions and tried to figure a way out of her situation. Countless – and undoubtedly humiliating – losses against random opponents had taught her to _never_ give up and to always think outside the box.

To look underneath the underneath.

Tenten had trained in various tactical exercises and honed her senses to such a degree that few really could out-think her; she had had enough of being the weakest on her team. But of-course, she had nothing on Shikamaru; then again, no one did.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her body, trying to get a feel of what had been taken and what had not. Of-course her giant scroll was gone – it had better not be damaged else there'd be _hell_ to pay; poor Lee still bore scars from the time he had inadvertently crushed it with Leaf Hurricane – and most of her hidden weapons were gone as well.

Regardless, she still had other means of obtaining weapons; she was their mistress after all and he had been careless this time.

She would have to get free though, before acquiring whatever weapons she needed and there _was_ a way to achieve this but…it was a particularly painful way…

Nevertheless, she had no choice.

Tenten flexed her hands behind her to test the ties that bound her hands but stopped abruptly at the sudden jolt that shot through them, ultimately leaving her slightly weaker. Ah, so he had used chakra-draining rope…she would just have to be extra careful then.

Setting her feet firmly on the ground, the weapons' mistress rose up slowly and extended her bound arms straight downwards behind her. She then got into an awkward squat with her torso angled backwards and lifted her right leg slightly. Here came the painful part…

Crack!

"_Hnnn_!"

She tried to suppress the urge to cry out at the sharp pain radiating through her shoulder as best as she could and chose to concentrate on the task at hand. No matter how many times it happened, she could just never get used to dislocating her shoulder. The pain got worse and she quickly passed each leg through the loop of her arms so that her hands were now in-front and not behind before she leaned against a wall, panting heavily and starting to sweat. And that was the easy part…

Standing up straight, Tenten slowly lifted her hands to her mouth, bit her thumb – though the mild pain barely registered compared to the now excruciating one in her shoulder – and raised the bloodied thumb to her hair-ties with shaking hands. The pain rose to a new crescendo and she had to swallow several groans lest anyone heard her. Adding to this the constant chakra drainage her body was experiencing as the ropes inevitably got stretched – in spite of her efforts not to tug at them – the weapons' mistress was just barely holding onto consciousness.

"S-summoning jutsu," she whispered shakily, but it was enough.

With a small poof, a kunai was in her hands and she worked quickly to cut the ropes, ignoring the weakness that ran through her body as she stretched them in the process. As soon as her hands were free, she quickly used her left hand to reposition her right shoulder.

With a dull 'click' and another round of sharp pains, her right arm was functioning again and she flexed it to relieve the stiffness in it. Of-course a medical ninja would have to look at it later…she might have torn a few ligaments in the whole process.

Of all the weapon scrolls she possessed, the ones that served as her hair-ties were her favorite. They were small enough to look like simple ribbons and so no one would expect them to be anything more. Yes, she had to use just a bit more chakra to keep them in place – anyone who thought her buns stayed that neat _all_ the time without chakra use was just crazy – but it was worth it. Her hair had grown slightly longer since it was hacked off during her capture and so it fit comfortably in her most desired hairstyle.

Smirking in satisfaction, she moved toward the door to examine it. Hmm, it was metallic…well, nothing a little acid couldn't handle. Summoning one of her more deadly poisoned blades, Tenten cut through the automatic locks of the door. There was no sizzling, smoking or any other theatrics, the acidic composition of the poison just melted the locks and the door was able to swing open on its hinges.

Her captors really had been careless this time. It seemed almost too easy…perhaps it was trap…?

She hadn't been able to even attempt an escape the first time, what with the chains that bound her to a wall whenever _they_ had not been violating her and the drugs circulating in her body, not to mention the injuries they had dealt her. This time though, it seemed far too simple…like they were baiting her or something…

No matter, she was going to complete her escape- trap or no – and _then_ she was going to make those bastards wish they had never been born.

But first things first…she was gonna look for her scroll and make the idiot who had taken it from her pay.

**XXXXXX**

"Hurry it along, we don't have much time."

Though spoken in a whisper, the phrase echoed along the walls, producing an unsettling atmosphere with the reverberation.

"Yes, Makoto-san," the burly man replied with a frown as he carried the petite body of the unconscious Hyuuga heiress to the large table.

Haijime Makoto had been informed of the four Konoha ninja not far from their base and he wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible. It was likely that in rushing the proceedings, they were bound to make mistakes but he didn't care after all, finally, _finally_ his plans were coming to fruition.

He had been eagerly waiting for this moment, trying not to think about it too much lest he jinx his chances at regaining the respect he'd lost. Yes, he was superstitious; there was nothing wrong with that.

The unconscious princess had no idea how much change her eyes would bring to Kumogakure. Learning the secrets of the byakugan was no small feat and there were thousands out there who were after them. Kumo would gain many allies and monetary profits by just simply selling each mystery of the kekke genkai one by one, and then they could make their own modified byakugan.

Makoto had brought instruments and chemicals needed not only for extracting the heiress' eyes but for also attaining some of the eggs in her ovaries. The scientists from the Lightening village had been researching into human genetic modification and he was sure they would love to get their hands on some of the coveted Hyuuga genes. He would make them beg first of course, but it would all be worth it in the end.

The four ninja he had been working with could then have her if they wanted. Pathetic filth; barely able to contain their animalistic instincts. He suppressed the urge to spit in disgust. He didn't care what they did to her, as long as they left her dead.

"Let's begin," he informed his four allies, barely able to hide the greedy glint in his eye.

Makoto approached the table, taking in the form of the sleeping Hyuuga and reached to wipe the hair from her forehead making sure that accursed clan seal had not yet been placed on her. The forehead was clean; that was good. He smirked in satisfaction as he got his extraction set ready.

It was at that though moment that everything went black and before he could even fathom what had just happened he felt himself experiencing the sensation of falling. His own body had barely registered the small jabs on his chest as it slipped into its own kind of darkness and oblivion.

**XXXXXX**

"How long will the genjustu last?"

"Not long. It's very simple and is meant just to startle them so we can move into place; besides, I'm pretty sure they will dispel it almost immediately," Sakura replied.

As she soared along with Sai on his giant eagle beast summons, she couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation in view of the oncoming fight. She looked down at the enemy's cabin and marveled at how small it looked from 30,000 feet in the air. Her thoughts were cut short however by Sai again.

"Shouldn't Uchiha Sasuke have set the genjutsu instead; the sharingan has more illusionary powers."

Sakura stirred at the man's underestimation of her own power. It wasn't that she'd wanted to cast a weak genjutsu; Shikamaru had said it would be best if she did so as to conserve her chakra for any healing that might be required. Also, no matter how good she was at the illusionary arts, there seemed to be someone better among their opponents and he would be able to dispel her genjutsu easily.

"It does, but I'm not sure about its capabilities to create a large-scale illusion around an area. I think it's mainly a visual based ability; you have to look into his eyes to be caught in his genjutsu," Sakura said in response to Sai's inquiry.

She got no reaction however and hoped that had satisfied him, though she wasn't sure about the theory herself. The summons began to descend and she was soon able to make out the forms of Sasuke-kun and Shikamaru waiting for them to land.

"What next?" she asked Shikamaru, trying to forget the split second when her eyes had locked with Sasuke-kun's and the intensity she'd found in his gaze.

"We're going in after them as well," Shikamaru replied.

Sakura got off the bird as Sai re-called it and pondered on Shikamaru's plan. He had divided the team into 3 units, each with different skills to counter different attacks, though each team had someone who was not easily affected by genjustu. It was a smart move but she had not been surprised at all; _this_ was Shikamaru they were talking about after-all, he was a strategic genius.

"Shouldn't someone stay behind just in case things don't go as planned?" Sai inquired.

"Yes, Sakura will stay."

The medical ninja turned to look at Sasuke-kun in unveiled surprise at his statement.

"Wh-what?"

"You're the medical ninja in the team; we need you to remain unharmed as a precaution," Sasuke replied slowly, deliberately; as if talking to a child.

Sakura was still dumbfounded and continued to stare at him, utterly speechless. The burning intensity she had seen in his eyes earlier had completely vanished, only to be replaced by dispassionate boredom.

Slowly by slowly, she was brought out of her stupor by the rising indignant and angry ball in her chest as his words finally hit her.

"No," she said simply and his eyes narrowed just a fraction at that but she stood her ground. She was not some weakling to be protected all the time by him; besides they were her friends too!

"Sakura has a point," Shikamaru stated, ending the staring contest the two had started. "If any of us get hurt in there, it would be easier for her to get to us if she was in the building than if she were out here."

"I'll be fine," she seemingly said to no one in particular but Sasuke grunted anyway. Satisfied, she turned to Shikamaru and asked; "so who will be staying out here?"

"I will, it would be easier for me to co-ordinate your movements from outside," he replied.

"Ah, so you've assigned yourself less work this time as well?"

The Nara turned to look at Sai in annoyance and Sakura suppressed a smile when he muttered 'troublesome.' Some things never changed.

Sasuke spared her one last look before signaling for them to leave; she hoped this time, things would be ok.

**XXXXXX**

"Why does everyone go after the person they want except for me?" Kiba asked, trying to keep the pout out of his voice.

He'd wanted to go after Hinata, but Shikamaru had assigned him and Neji to look for Tenten. He'd done his best to argue but he'd seen the logic in the end; where Neji's eyes failed him, Kiba could use his nose and vice-versa. Yes, he had accepted the team-up in the end, but he still had complaining rights and he was going to use them as much as he could.

"No offense Neji; I mean, your chick is hot and all bu-"

"That's quite enough."

Kiba turned to look at the Hyuuga whose face was as impassive as ever, except for the vessel pulsating at his temple. He gave a large grin; barely 2 minutes into their new strategy and he had already pissed off the stoic man.

This was going to be fun!

"Aw, come-on, don't be such a stick in the mud; all I said was Tenten is smoking ho-"

Akamaru chose that moment to interrupt him with a low growl.

Suddenly all business, he looked down at his canine partner and whispered; "What is it boy?"

Before he got a reply, a cry of 'kaiten!' cut across the corridor and he looked up just in time to see 2 large silver dogs hit and bounce off the blue shield surrounding Neji.

Ah yes, this was going to be fun indeed.

Neji, however, chose that moment to interrupt Kiba's thoughts.

"Kiba; use Tenten's scent to find her. I'll handle this."

Needless to say, the Inuzuka was not pleased but he understood the logic. Neji would not be able find Tenten alone no matter how much he tried owing to the fact that the cabin's walls seemed to be reinforced with bright pulsating chakra that hurt his eyes every time he turned on his byakugan. Nodding in comprehension, Kiba took off down another corridor.

"Don't worry though; I'll take _good_ care of your girlfriend!"

What? So he couldn't help that last jab; it was no crime.

**XXXXXX**

Hinata ran down the corridor trying to regulate her breathing so the gasps did not reverberate off the walls. Saying her day had been _weird_ would be a major understatement. She hadn't known what her captors wanted with her and she wasn't stupid enough to stick around long enough to find out.

It had been their mistake when one of them came to get her from the closed room she'd been kept in thinking that perhaps she was still knocked out with their drugs. Tired of the constant darkness, she'd just closed her eyes and dozed off only to wake when she was being carried to God knew where.

She'd been sharp enough to know not to open her eyes though, and had concentrated on taking slow deep breaths to keep up the appearance of slumber. A few murmurs were heard here and there and a distinct command to hurry up was voiced.

Hinata had soon felt the cold smoothness of a table beneath her form and almost flinched when she felt warm rough hands brush across her forehead. It had been a struggle not to open her eyes and take the whole situation in but she'd reminded herself that patience was a key ninja tool.

Patience, patience, patience. It was a mantra she'd chanted in her head hoping her chance for escape would arrive; but as time went by, her hope and resilience begun to fade.

Sure enough, when she heard a soft gasp of surprise echo in the room, she'd opened her eyes only to find the room pitch black. For a while, the Hyuuga heiress had wondered whether she was still in her cell but found it not so when she activated her byakugan and saw through the weak illusion that had been cast around the room.

The men in the room had been startled by the genjutsu however and she'd acted fast, closing the vital chakra points of the one standing close to the table first. She'd moved fast and hit the second one from behind but her luck, it seemed, had ended there as the illusion faded and light flooded the room once more.

The last man standing in the room had not been much as she'd found out he was mostly a genjutsu user and even he seemed to know he'd lost as soon as she'd faced him since the byakugan was almost impervious to illusions. The battle had ended in 2 minutes though Hinata had to admit, the man did put up a good fight.

But as she ran down the corridor, trying to find a way out, her body was failing her. The constant use of her byakugan in a room whose walls were pulsating with blindingly white chakra coupled with the low chakra reserves she was dealing with had given her an intense migraine and since her adrenaline high had worn off, the pain had intensified.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she winced in pain and slowed her pace a fraction. She completely stopped and ducked behind a corner though when she heard loud, fast footsteps and a few mumbles echo across the corridor in front of her.

Not giving her enemies a chance to re-capture her, she stayed silent and waited for an opportune moment. The footsteps came closer and closer and if she timed it just right, she could strike her opponent before he saw her. Wait, wait, _now_!

Using the wall as her shield, Hinata struck out blindly with a chakra loaded palm only to meet a hard resistance. A gurgle sounded however and she felt, more than saw her opponent fall down flat.

"Hinata?" a deep voice asked

_Wait, what?_

"Shino-kun!" she gasped when she stepped out from behind the wall. Her face blanched however when she saw who it was she'd just knocked out.

"_Naruto-kun_?"

Shino looked from Naruto to Hinata and for the first time in ages, whether from amusement, shock or relief she'd never know, he let a quiet chuckle escape his mouth.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N**: I know, I know my fighting scenes kinda suck but hey, am not much of an action fan either. For all those out there who are waiting for some Nejiten moments, I've got you covered. You're just gonna have to wait for the next chapter which won't be long; trust me! Am gonna make good use of my winter break.

On a side note, I've been seriously ill for about a week and have only just recently recovered. Reviews might make me feel better though *hint* *hint* just putting it out there you know… (^_^)


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**: am still trying to get back my mojo so everyone, please bear with me. Thank you **irit16, DarkAnonymous324, Ilovehugs94, ****Franoncrack****, MariaSabaku **and**black-misty-sky**for your support. Now on to the next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine, it has never been and will never be…ok, I said it; now give me the cookie like you promised.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 13_

…**even when proven wrong.**

"The hallway divides up ahead. We'll have to split up," Sai whispered.

"Naruto and Shino went after Hinata and Neji and Kiba went after Tenten right? So what are _we _looking for" Sakura asked, wincing slightly as her louder tone reverberated off the walls.

"We're back-up."

"Back-up? But don't we-"

"We don't have time for this Sakura," Sasuke cut her off. She'd always been a little too talkative, even on missions.

He looked up to see the fork in the corridor Sai had mentioned but before he could say anything, Sakura spoke up.

"Alright, I'll take the right; you two take the left."

Sasuke and Sai looked at her like she was mad – which was a tad creepy considering they both had similar faces bearing similar expressions.

"What?" she asked defensively. Granted it was not the right time to assert her independence from the males in her team but still, it was really annoying they couldn't seem to fathom her going on alone.

"Sai will check the right; we'll take the left. Let's go."

Without even waiting to see if she was following, Sasuke left her in the corridor and Sai left a second later. Sakura gritted her teeth and tried to keep calm at the raw display of dominance the Uchiha had forced upon her. He was starting to get on her nerves!

She snapped out of her dark mood however when she heard birds chirping. Wait! Was that…

"Chidori!"

Sakura ran towards the flashes of light and tried to ignore the unsettling sound of hundreds of twittering birds echoing through the hallway. She came to the sight of Sasuke-kun, sword drawn with lightning cackling off it, face as impassive as ever, facing a man who seemed to have equal abilities.

"Sasuke-ku-"

"Ah, I see you've brought us another new toy. Just hang back sweetheart, I'll deal with your boyfriend here first then I'll take _proper_ care of your _needs_."

Sakura turned to look at the man in disgust. He in turn chuckled as if amused, licked his lips and gave her a look that made her feel like taking a hot bath and scrubbing off as much filth as she could that had been sent her way by that one look. She glared at him but he seemed unfazed which served to further irritate her already unstable mood.

"What did you say?"

"Stay out of this Sakura." It was not a request and she found herself clenching her fists in fury. Just what did he think she was?

"Sakura eh? I once had victim like you sweetheart; all soft and pink hair but could really scream her lungs out." A chuckle, then: "I wonder how you'll sound."

Sakura's eyes widened in disgust as goose pimples dominated her smooth skin. But before she could even take a breath to yell – let alone raise a fist in anger – Sasuke-kun rushed forward, eyes blazing red and stabbed at the man.

His blow was parried though and he ducked beneath the blade, spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to the torso, sending the man flying into a wall; lightning and jutsus forgotten in his raw need to hit the guy who was talking dirty to _his_ Sakura.

"Ooh, I must have hit a nerve, eh _Uchiha-san_?"

Sasuke just stared impassively even as the man got up from the debris as if nothing had hit him at all. "You talk too much."

The man just chuckled, spat and then: "Let's finish this quickly, shall we? Winner takes the little Sakura over there."

Oh, that was _it_!

She was _not_ some prize to be won, she was _not_ some little woman to be protected and she was most certainly _not_ some trophy kunoichi to be kept out of fights! If neither of the men before her could see that, she was just going to show them then.

Sakura ran, rage fueling her. She did not scream her trademark punch line or do anything theatrical like that. She just ran and before the enemy could swing his sword towards Sasuke, her fist connected with his jaw and broke it; just like that!

Of-course the resulting inertia sent the man flying straight into the opposite direction and as his body hit the chakra-enhanced wall, a distinct crack was heard. He didn't get up again. Sakura turned to fix her angry glare on a bemused Sasuke – though he did a good job of hiding it.

"Sasuke-kun, we need to talk," she growled out between heaving breaths.

He had to fight not to roll his eyes; had she always been this impractical? "Not now."

Her eyes narrowed but she took several deep breaths, trying to quell the anger rising in her chest. "Now is as good a time as any."

"Sakura, we don't have time for _this_," he stressed. Then as an afterthought: "You're being annoying."

_Annoying…_? Again? That phrase was deeply nostalgic to her and as if on cue, an ache rose up in her chest. It was that phrase that had signified the first time he'd ever acknowledged her and it always caused her to have mixed feelings for his acknowledgement of her, as far as she knew, had never really been positive. Yes, he was all dominant – as always – and possessive over her now but…that was not really what she wanted from him.

As Sakura watched Sasuke sheath his sword and walk away from her, she couldn't help the words that fled her lips.

"Is that all I am to you?" she called out, her voice almost failing her. It was an inappropriate time to get into this, after-all, they had friends to save and a mission to accomplish but she wanted to hear his answer.

Her heart pounded and her mind begged him to say 'no.' just a simple word that would ascertain that his acknowledgement ran deeper than just her bad habits. She watched as he stopped and turned his head slightly to glance at her sideways; her heart sped up…please…please let him just say-

"You can't change what you are my Sakura."

Sakura stiffened and spun around just in time to see the man they'd previously thought dead thrust his sword into the ground and send lightning cascading down the blade. She jumped and tried to use her chakra to stick to the wooden walls but it was getting disrupted and she panicked as her efforts failed and she started falling towards the lightning charged floor.

Firm hands caught her just in time though and she glanced up to see Sasuke-kun's perpetually impassive face.

"See what I mean sweetheart? You are a flower whose only purpose is to be used again and again before you wither away. You cannot change my Sakura," the man slurred, still able to insert a perverted tone to his words even with a broken jaw.

She didn't have time to let the words sink in as Sasuke jumped from one point of the walls to another, not standing long enough at any single point for his chakra to be disrupted, and headed towards their opponent who seemed to have a renewed vigor to fight. Sakura briefly wondered why the Uchiha had not yet used any of the higher powers of the sharingan which would have ended the match even before it started before she found herself hurtling towards the ground. Sasuke had practically thrown her from the air and though a little peeved at this, she didn't have time to ponder on it as she tried to make sure her face didn't hit the floor first. He'd tossed her at an angle that would ensure she landed behind their opponent so the lightning charged earth would not affect her.

The sounds of swords clashing filled the air and Sakura stood up from her position on the floor looking a little awed at the fight going on before her. _They were so fast_. She snapped out of the short daze though and tried to think of a way to help. Yes, medical ninja were supposed to stay out of fights but this time, _this_ time, she would just have to make an exception to the rule…she had a point to prove. The crude words their opponent had said were finally sinking in and she suppressed the shiver threatening to run down her back in anger.

Enough was enough! It didn't matter whether the man had said those words to rile her up or not; they had hit far too close to home. She _refused_ to be treated like some prize for the Uchiha, something to further feed his ego; something to be _used_!

"Hell yeah!" Sakura yelled as she cast a chakra-infused fist onto the ground.

The air was filled with deep rumbles as the earth shook and tore up into several segments. She didn't care whether Sasuke-kun was in the middle of it all along with their enemy; he could take care of himself. Feeding chakra to her feet, she hopped towards their opponent while he was still confounded and extended a palm glowing with chakra towards his chest. The man sensed her approach however and struck out with his own hand, sending lightning cascading down his fingers.

Sakura's fingers met with firm flesh the same time her eyes registered that Sasuke-kun had come in-between her and their opponent thus getting himself shocked by the lightning intended for her and having his spleen ruptured by the chakra infused palm she'd meant for their enemy. Her fingers still got shocked by some stray lightning though but she barely noticed as her mouth hang open in a silent scream at the scene before her.

Sasuke slumped forward, his hand clutching his abdomen as Sakura gripped him by his shoulders only to see his sword impaling their enemy's chest, successfully piercing his heart. He'd jumped in to save her? But-

"You've changed."

The whisper, slipping out of his lips, muffled by pain hit her ears like a powerful wave, successfully halting her thoughts. In just one phrase, he managed to erase all her doubts resulting from the cruel words thrown towards her by their opponent. That one phrase had conveyed the message she'd wanted to hear most from him; no, he no longer found her annoying. She couldn't suppress the small smile that played around her lips though as she supported Sasuke's weight with her own.

"Hush Sasuke-kun. Let me take care of you," she whispered back

**XXXXXX**

"Who is it you have come for Hyuuga? Your heiress?"

The disembodied voice carried across the hallway and try as he might, Neji could not ignore it. He had been battling the giant chakra-composed wolves for a good part of 10 minutes and he had hit the same stalemate as last time. They were circling him and he could not get away yet they could not get close enough to hurt him because of his kaiten. No other technique worked on them and he was beginning to get frustrated.

The voice – he supposed of the summoner – was echoing through the hallway and it irritated him to no end that he couldn't get to the man.

"Your whole clan put together could not protect her from capture. You alone do not stand a chance; your efforts are wasted."

Neji clenched his teeth as he tried to figure a way out of the situation.

"We will tear her eyes out; give them to Kumo and use her little princess body before tossing Konoha her remains."

He stiffened a little at that. _Kumo_? Kumogakure was involved in this? His anger – and admittedly a little panic – rose as the man's full statement registered in his mind. _Hinata-sama_!

"Unless of-course you came for the little weapons' mistress of Konoha. Pretty little thing." The voice chuckled and Neji found himself clenching his fists.

"She was fun at first; stubbornly refusing to cry out but we soon changed that. Towards the end she'd cried out for someone, Neji was it? He he he. We tried to tell her no one would save her but she wouldn't listen, she just kept screaming his name." Another chuckle.

Neji's heart was pounding as if it had the intention of bursting out of its chamber. Liquid fire was running through his veins and the rage felt like it was tearing his chest apart; but he kept silent still.

"There is nothing you can do. Neji won't save them, Konoha won't save them and neither can you, you fool. Their bodies will be sent your way though, worry not."

The ANBU captain squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to keep the contemptuous laughter out as he tried to think a way out of the situation. The veins at his temples felt like they would burst with the strain of keeping his byakugan activated. The pulsating chakra in the walls was giving him a splitting migraine and he was losing his concentration fast.

"Neji!"

_Tenten_?

The Hyuuga turned towards the sound but figured his mistake out too late. He seemed to watch almost in slow motion as one of the giant wolves flew over his head, headed towards Tenten and another ran at him. A Kaiten quickly took care of the one headed for him but Tenten, she…

A fierce bark filled the air and Akamaru appeared suddenly, meeting the stray wolf in mid air and falling into a rough tumble with it. Not wasting a second, Neji ran down the hallway, hoping to find Tenten as his heart screamed he will protect her this time.

"Told you I'd take care of her."

Under any other circumstances, he could have punched Kiba for his smug attitude but his mind was focused on only one person at the moment.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice burning with an intensity his eyes seemed to match as he looked her over with his byakugan.

She gave him a weak smile. "No."

"Your shoulder…" he said, starting to walk over to her when a voice stopped him short.

"Say, aren't you forgetting something Neji?"

Turning around, he saw Akamaru grappling with both wolves and was about to search for the summoner when a large buzzing filled the air and a swarm of bugs descended upon the two wolves.

"Shino!" Kiba yelled and Akamaru gave an appreciative bark as the hooded man stepped around the corner.

Now for the summoner. Neji spied the man attempting to get away when a volley of assorted weapons sailed through the air and hit him square in the back. He turned back to look at Tenten in mild surprise and his eye brows shot up at the fierce look in her eyes; looks like he'd been wrong. She was more than able to handle facing her captors; he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as some of his tension wore away.

"That was overkill don't you think Tenten; and you missed his heart too," Kiba called teasingly as he kicked the fallen body over.

"I never miss," she replied. "Tsunade-sama will want some of them alive."

Neji couldn't help agreeing though he admitted – silently of course – what a nuisance that was. He was still itching to get his chakra to burst someone's heart.

**XXXXXX**

Shikamaru turned his gaze to the currently lightening sky. The rain clouds seemed to have been swept away by the strong wind and he was grateful. It would have been such a drag keeping watch in the rain.

He mulled the situation over in his head for the tenth time. The group hadn't reacted much to the news that the enemies were in fact Konoha ninja and he'd been surprised – to say the least – at that. They had probably been extremely fed-up and just wanted to go in, get what they wanted and get out.

The genius was also pretty sure the fights were not going to take long and that was why he had not included himself in the mix. 7 jounin, 3 of whom were ANBU was really nothing to joke about and he was certain Hinata and Tenten were not going to be seated around waiting to be rescued either. He just hoped Neji, Naruto and Kiba left some of the captors alive at the very least; they would need to be questioned. Probably sending all those ninja in was overkill but what the heck, it wasn't his problem.

As if on cue, Kiba stepped out of the cabin followed by Akamaru with Naruto's body across his back; hmm, what happened there? Hinata came after and was she _blushing_? Shino followed, carrying a man's body over his shoulder and Neji and Tenten came last clearly trying too hard not to look at each other for too long.

Shikamaru fought the urge to roll his eyes and jumped down from his spot in the tree. "Oi, what happened to Naruto?"

"Naruto is hurt?"

Several people turned to look at Sakura who had just come out with a pale looking Sasuke being supported by Sai. Two white and black lion summons came after them carrying 2 male bodies each, one of which was more bloody that the others. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows in surprise; what exactly had gone on in there?

"Um no…N-Naruto-kun was-" Hinata started but was promptly cut off.

"Hinata inadvertently knocked him out when she thought he was the enemy. His chakra points have been re-opened since but he is yet to wake up."

"Shino-kun."

"Way to go Hinata! You rock!" Kiba called as the girl turned a deeper shade of crimson.

Suffice to say, Shikamaru was impressed and so was most everyone else judging by their faces.

"Let me have a look at him," Sakura said with a hidden smile.

"So what do we do about this place and him?" Kiba asked, nodding to the unconscious bodies.

"They need to be taken back to the village…alive," Shikamaru added as an afterthought, eyeing Kiba, Neji and Sasuke's murderous glares. "The cabin is not part of our mission; the Fifth will see to it."

They all nodded their understanding and Shikamaru proceeded to tell them what their formation would be on the way back. There was no such thing as 'too careful' in the ninja world.

Naruto woke slowly and by the time he was himself again, it was nearly 9:00am. He fussed over Hinata for a while making her blush deeply even as he – for some strange reason – wore a faint blush as well. This of-course was stopped abruptly when he finally realized that he'd missed out on all the action and was not allowed to even kick the bodies of the captors. Hinata apologized profusely but he silently enveloped her in a hug, whispering that he was just glad she was ok. She, in turn, promptly fainted.

Shino expressed concern over the prisoners waking up and offered to have their chakra levels drained to low levels using his parasites to ensure they wouldn't become alert before they were needed to. Tenten instead asked why they just couldn't seal them in a scroll and transport them like that. It would keep them barely alive and their muscles might come out rather distorted but all they needed was their minds wasn't it? Needless to say, everyone stared but they didn't say a word. They understood.

Shino's suggestion was the chosen option though.

With that, everyone checked their gear, fell into formation and left for home.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N**: I know I promised a Nejiten scene but the chapter just didn't seem to wanna go that way; so this is what I'll do. I'm not promising but I'm going to try and put a Nejiten scene in the next chapter.

There have been a few speculations as to whether I'll actually finish this story coz I sometimes take too long to update. Well, do not worry coz I assure you, I will finish this story…hmm, I wonder if I should put that as a new year's resolution?

Oh well! Happy New Year everybody and thank you for the lovely reviews, favorites and story alerts! *kowtows* Do _**review**_ and tell me what you think though. (^_^)


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N**: It has come to my attention that perhaps I've turned into one of those people who take ages to update their fics and this is bad…real bad. I know what it is like to suddenly get an email announcing that a particular fic has been updated _2 months_ after I last read it and I don't even remember the story-line. I have become the very thing I loathe. Oh, and I'd first posted this chapter sometime back but deleted it due to some editing my beta insisted I do. Sorry for the inconvenience.

_Anyway_, here is the next chapter and I hope you'll forgive my lateness…don't worry though, just a few more to go.

**Disclaimer: **I know I don't have a sudden crazy urge to make the sharingan and all its users look like gods on earth _and_ I'm pretty sure am not Japanese…that should suffice.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 14_

…**even in surprises.**

As Akimichi Chouji sat outside the Hokage tower, munching on a bag of chips and watching Rock Lee prance about, ranting about one thing or the other, he couldn't help but wonder why some people seemed to have so much energy all the time.

He'd returned from a joint mission with his dad to learn that Ino had impressed the Torture and Interrogation Unit with her stamina and prowess and was awaiting promotion to special jounin. News had also reached him of Hinata's capture and Shikamaru's involvement in the successful rescue along with Naruto and the rest of his friends. Though he was genuinely happy for both his former teammates, the fact still remained that he was ravenous and would not be able to wait for them to exit the tower for much longer. What could the Hokage possibly be questioning them on; it was not like another attempt to steal the byakugan had been made or something!

He popped another chip into his mouth and chewed slowly as he savored the flavor. Why had Ino been summoned to the tower anyway; she had not been part of the rescue team in the first place. He groaned as the hunger pangs intensified; if anything, the potato chips were making it worse and if Lee dipped his hands in the bag to get some chips one more time…

"Neji, Tenten!"

The shout snapped Chouji out of his quickly darkening mood and he looked up to see the very occupants of his thoughts walk out of the tower; finally!

"Hi Lee," Tenten called rather wearily making the green-clad man slow down in his attempt to smother her in an all-out embrace; choosing instead to settle for a gentle hug.

"You're back; the village will shine even more with the rays of our blinding determination!" Lee yelled, clapping Neji on the back hard enough to produce a forced jerk before turning around to make a fuss of Hinata and the rest.

Neji on his part glared at Lee so intensely, the infamous 'if looks could kill' phrase flitted through Chouji's head briefly before the tiajutsu master suddenly yelled his frustration on not being asked to join the mission.

"You were on another mission," Neji ground out calmly, evenly; managing to remind everyone that he still had the ability to make someone seem like an idiot even without saying so.

Lee – endearingly oblivious Lee – simply just stared at the older Hyuuga like he'd gone insane. "If word had been sent to me, I would have been back within the hour!"

"Weren't you in the Flower Country?"

Lee turned to look at Shikamaru with an expression that clearly said 'yeah, so?'

"Lee," Tenten sighed, "that's at least a 3-day journey from here. You could not possibly have come back _within_ the hour."

"Tenten, I am appalled! Do not underestimate the Power of Youth!"

Before anyone else could try to reason with the worked-up jounin, a strange growl filled the air.

"Sorry for making you wait so long," Shikamaru said to a Chouji who was faintly blushing under the amused stares of the whole team.

"It's alright; you're from a tiring mission anyway. It's no big deal," Chouji replied rather sheepishly.

"Tired?" Naruto scoffed. "As if! He did absolutely nothing; sitting all the time while pretending to-"

Sai chose this point to cover Naruto's mouth – in a surprising reversal of roles – having sensed Sakura's quickly darkening mood. Sakura on the other hand seemed rather put off that she didn't get the chance to slap Naruto upside the head for his comment.

"You're one to talk Naruto; I seem to recall you being asleep for most of the important parts anyway," Kiba teased.

"Is that really true Naruto-kun?" Lee practically shouted his eyes rounded in pure disbelief.

"I was not asleep…I was unconscious and it was not my fault since-"

This time, Sai did not get the chance to cut Naruto off as Sakura's hand sharply made contact with the back of his head. Really, the man needed to learn how to better phrase his words.

"I'm sorry, 'Hinata mumbled with a look of pure mortification.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something but was promptly cut off – again.

"Excuse my intrusion," a voice spoke and they all turned to face an approaching chuunin who bowed before continuing. "Hinata-sama, Neji-sama; your immediate attendance is required by the Council,"

"Alright, thank you Hiro-san," Hinata replied with a small smile though the tiny frown on her forehead was not to be missed. Neji nodded in turn and the chunnin left.

"Excuse us; Hinata-sama," Neji spoke.

She nodded and they both left, leaving the rest rather confused; Naruto especially seemed rather disappointed.

"So, shall we go for lunch?" Shikamaru asked, rousing everyone from of their pensive moods.

Chouji was all too glad to hear everyone's agreements; with the exception of Sakura who wanted to visit Sasuke first in the hospital. He was tempted to ask what kind of rescue operation they had carried out, what with Shikamaru reportedly doing nothing, Naruto being aslee…er, _unconscious_ and Sasuke in the hospital. But it would be a question no one could answer without breaking protocol and so he settled for just leading his friends to one of his favorite restaurants for a late lunch. Of-course, _they_ would pay, not him.

**XXXXXX**

Hyuuga Hiashi's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he finished reading out the new specifications for the future house-heads.

"The Heir/Heiress will not leave the clan compound except in the accompaniment of at least two chuunin-level guards. This shall not apply to official missions assigned by the Hokage."

He raised his head to face both Hinata and Neji with a stern look that tolerated not complaints but ended up closing his eyes at the horrified and confused look that shone in his daughter's eyes. Neji's face was as composed as ever but his daughter's…

"Excuse me, but if I may inquire as to why these rules have been set up."

Hiashi almost smiled proudly at Hinata's calm voice that did not betray any of the emotional turmoil he'd only just glimpsed in her face.

"If you have any objections, speak." He was proud, yes, but there were rules to be followed in clan meetings and he as head had to adhere to these.

Hinata raised her head and Hiashi experienced a brief moment of uncertainty as how to feel about the fact that her eyes were now as unreadable as those of the surrounding elders. "No, it's just that this is rather sudden…hasty."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow at the challenge in his daughter's words. "The current Heiress has had three near-death instances, all within the Village. Three is too many and the byakugan _must_ remain protected at all times. This will be tolerated no longer; the Hyuuga are not weak and will not be seen as such."

_I will not lose you_.

Of-course Hiashi would never utter these words but that did not make them any less real. He remembered the anger he'd felt when Hinata , as a child, had almost been kidnapped by the Cloud and the near death experience she'd had when the Leaf had been attacked four years ago had left him rather unsettled. The most recent capture however, had planted a heavy tightness in his chest that he'd eventually come to recognize as fear and the sleepless nights thereafter had left him near exhaustion.

It was all he could do to not rush to the Hokage Tower when word reached him that Hinata had returned safely. Clearly he was getting too old for this idiocy and the eye-twitch he'd received as a result of his most recent bouts of insomnia proved his point.

"Failure to adhere to these rules will result in dire consequences for all involved." His tone invited no objections.

"Yes," both Hinata and Neji said in unison.

"Now moving onto the last item of this meeting." And here, Hiashi paused to give his daughter a look that was meant to pierce and promised the worst if she denied him an answer to what he was about to ask. To her credit though, Hinata suppressed the urge to gasp and instead a slight widening of her eyes was all the reaction she gave.

"What's this I hear about you being in…'love' with one Uzumaki Naruto?"

At Hinata's further widening eyes, Hiashi knew the elders had been correct in their assumptions. He'd been hesitant to believe them since they occasionally engaged in gossip but now he knew they were not mistaken. How they got some of their information though was beyond him.

He was a father; granted not the best father, not even a good father but a father nevertheless and when it came to being protective, Hiashi was right there on top of the list. Uzumaki Naruto was a commendable ninja and a Village hero, but all that meant nothing to him at this point. He had long since abandoned showing a cool attitude when it came to who his daughters and nephew were to marry and had actually gotten involved. But to think that Hinata and the elders had kept this from him. From what he'd been told, his daughter had been harboring these romantic sentiments for years…he was not the most involved father but this…this was ludicrous!

He stared at his daughter as she tried not to fidget, his look unforgiving. Uzumaki was going to have to answer as well. Perhaps it wasn't the best way to deal with the issue but it was a chance to kill 2 birds with one stone. It seemed that both the future house heads had passionate interests in individuals who were not suited to marry into the Hyuuga. It would be ideal to meet both Tenten and Uzumaki; it was the honorable thing to do. His having ignored Neji's sentiments for his teammate had not stopped the man from pursuing a relationship with her…it would be best if he didn't do the same with his daughter; it was all getting out of hand. Whether the council liked it or not, he would meet with those two…at the very least he wanted both his nephew and daughter to attain _some_ happiness…he really was getting too old for all this.

In a way, he was providing a little window of hope for both of the future heads seated before him but if their preferred partners did not meet any of the council's requirements…well, to put it bluntly; the shit was going to hit the fan. Not even he could overrule the elders' unanimous decision. But he'd deal with that later; first things first.

"I await your answer Hinata."

**XXXXXX**

_One, two, three_

Tenten counted in her head as she worked out a new set of katas. It was a bad habit but she needed whatever distraction she could get. She didn't quite know what to do at the moment and working off the extra adrenaline had seemed like a good idea; she wasn't so sure about that anymore though.

She was frustrated. What the hell was this?

After her former captors had been apprehended, she hadn't been sure what to think of the whole situation but after the debriefing from Tsunade-sama, during the lunch, her mood had progressively changed from relieved to aggravated. No one had seemed to really notice though and throughout the cheerful chatter of her friends, she'd only received one or two concerned glances from Lee and a questioning look from Shikamaru. Neither of them had pursued the issue though and she had been grateful.

Now, as the sun made its descent, her heart seemed to sink with it. To reiterate, _what_ the hell was this?

The ending battle had been too simple and far too short for her liking; what was she supposed to do now? Her whole being seemed to be screaming out for revenge and she didn't know what to do about it. Just who was she supposed to take her anger out on…the men who had used her so brutally had easily fallen under the power her friends had displayed…what did that make her, weak?

Tenten had found no way to escape at the time she'd been captured and as her energy was constantly drained day by day, her hope had faded. Her enemies had seemed so potent…so powerful but now after they had been so easily defeated, she wasn't so sure anymore. Even after all this time of training and promotions, to be easily violated by men who had been quickly disposed of by her colleagues meant she was weak; pathetic.

Her arms trembled as she fought to maintain the form she wanted to master.

How; after all this time, how?…her weakness _had_ gotten her raped; it was all her fault! What was she to do now? How would she ever be able to face all those who had supported her over the years again? Gai-sensei, Lee, Tsunade-sama, _N-neji_!

The tightness in her chest expanded and she immediately recognized it as disappointment…in herself.

_One, two, three_.

She was whispering the words rather desperately now; trying to hold onto any form of sanity she had left. Her voice cracked but she did not stop. The katana swept through the air, increasingly changing from graceful lethal arcs to vicious slashes and violent stabs. Her breath came in shallow gasps as she tried to handle her emotions properly; it would not do for her to cry…it, it would just not do.

Tenten gritted her teeth as she tried to hold back the howl that was threatening to come out. She would not lose control of herself, no! But even _she_ knew it was a losing battle. Her eyes began to prickle and the tears gathered, eventually succumbing to gravity and falling in droplets, one after another until steady streams lay claim to her cheeks.

Still, she never stopped stabbing and slashing. Vaguely, a thought flitted through her head, telling her this was what is was to be broken, to have everything taken away, to not care about anything…not even the pain.

Firm hands suddenly took a hold of hers and she tried to fight against them, tried to harm whoever had intruded on her practice, her training, her brokenness. But easily, much too easily for her liking, the intruder disarmed her and quickly had her in a hold that prevented any harmful movement from her.

The world around her slowly came into focus and she blinked in surprise as the darkness registered on her retinas…how had it become so dark so fast? Small whimpers occasionally cut across the quiet and she realized they were coming from her own mouth. _Pitiful_; how long had she been making those pathetic sounds? The hands that held her tightened slightly and she realized she was leaning against someone's chest as the hands encircled her in an embrace.

"You're not," the intruder spoke rather sternly.

_Neji_?

"W-what?" she whispered in confusion.

Neji drew back slightly, just enough to look down at her, his eyes unreadable. "You're not pitiful."

She drew her eyebrows together in confusion before realization hit her; ah, so she'd inadvertently spoken her thoughts aloud. Tenten looked away from him, her cheeks flushing lightly in embarrassment. "How do _you_ know?"

"I know you."

Her heart fluttered at the flat statement. He'd spoken it so calmly, unhesitant, as if he was stating a commonly known fact.

"You don't know…you _can't_ know. _You_ were not _raped_ by some pathetic excuses for ninja; _you_ cannot possibly-"

Neji, shifted his position and pinned her against a nearby tree, effectively cutting off what would have turned out to be a self-pitying rant.

"Look at me," he demanded, but Tenten stubbornly looked away. He had no right interfering in her business.

"Tenten, _look. at. me._"

Perhaps it was the way he said it or the fact that with him looming over her like that, she would eventually have look at him. Either way, she angled her head upwards and stared into his silver eyes, almost wincing at the anger in them, even as he visibly tried to suppress it.

"Neji, I did-"

"Is this about the mission we're from?" he cut her off. Not waiting for an answer though, he continued. "There were _five_ men, one of whom was clearly not a ninja and how many of us were there?"

"This is ridiculous; I don't see-"

"_How many_?"

"Ten," she replied feeling rather uneasy at the look he was fixing her with.

"Exactly; 3 ANBU and 7 jounin, not to mention that both you and Hinata-sama were not simply seated around waiting to be rescued. _You_ managed to escape mere hours after they'd taken you. Does that make you weak?"

"I didn't say I was weak!"

Neji fixed her with a flat stare and she turned away not able to bear the way his gaze looked _into_ her. He knew her too well.

"It still doesn't change the fact that I was captured, _again_ by the same people."

"Kiba, Akamaru and Sakura were trapped in a genjutsu at that time while I was trapped within a circle of chakra wolves," Neji ground out, continuing as if he hadn't heard her.

His hand slid beneath her chin and tilted her head so her surprised eyes met his. "Don't you think that they could have captured either one of us if they wanted to at that point? It was clear that maniac you fought wanted to take you again."

"So you saw that fight huh," Tenten whispered. The anger in Neji's eyes had intensified and though she'd originally thought it was directed at her and the pathetic state she was in, it was now clear that he was not angry at her.

"So what are you saying Neji, our opponents were strong but we managed to defeat them because our numbers outweighed theirs?"

"Not exactly. Our combined strength might have been rather unnecessarily large at the end of it all."

"Overkill?" Tenten asked with a small smile.

"Yes." He fixed her with a look that she was not sure how to interpret before he closed his eyes and sighed. "I almost thought I was going to explode as you were carried away before my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it." A frown marred his smooth brow. "And in the end, I didn't get to do anything much."

Neji opened his eyes and she saw the frustration that had embedded itself in her chest earlier expressed in the silver orbs. "I wanted revenge Tenten. It shouldn't have been personal…but…it was. Those men…I still…I want to march there and torture them for all they've done."

Tenten managed a small smile at the situation and Neji looked at her in confusion, but how was she to explain herself? There he stood, having eased her pain slightly and yet the frustration seemed to have now transferred onto him. A small sense of peace filled her as she realized that Neji's proximity, his touch had not elicited any negative reflexes from her body. Somehow, just somehow, facing her captors – no matter how frustrating the situation might have been – had produced the start of a calmness she hadn't felt in the longest time. Also, Neji was forgetting something important.

"Don't ANBU captains have clearance to participate in any _activities_ of interest the Torture and Interrogation Unit carry out? Say if perhaps they decided to _examine_ the men we captured?" she asked innocently.

Neji, stared at her for a second, realization dawning before he smoothly swept down and captured her lips in a searing kiss. It was nothing like the chaste, almost shy ones he'd given her at the start of their relationship and most certainly nothing like the healing kiss they'd last shared – that one was in a league of its own.

No, this kiss was engulfing, dominant, as if he needed to prove to her that he was there, that he existed…that he _cared_.

Tenten's eyes snapped open in shock as she remembered all the times she'd tried to push him away…he meant so much to her and she hadn't wanted to involve him in the pain and confusion that would often at times engulf her but in doing so, she must have hurt him in turn.

As the fire in the kiss was controlled and they eventually drew away, out of breath, Tenten whispered a soft 'I'm sorry' and Neji's eyes smiled down at her gently even as his lips did the same. She found herself flushing and her stomach turning at the look in his eyes; no matter how hard she tried to find another way to describe it, the fact still remained that Neji's eyes were shining with love. She stared in wonder at the fact that she'd made _Neji Hyuuga_, ANBU captain and all-round genius not just fall for her but choose to love her as well.

Seeing the marvel in Tenten's eyes, Neji's smile grew wider even as he figured out the reason for it. "I've been trying to tell you for the longest time; I _do_ love you."

Tenten's blush deepened as the words she'd never thought he would ever say played and replayed themselves in her mind. It was in this state that Neji gave her the second kiss of the evening though this one was decidedly shorter and less impassioned.

When he drew back though, his face was unreadable once again and she gave him a questioning look.

"There's something I had almost forgotten," he stated simply and Tenten wondered what it could be. His next statement however brought her mind crushing down into a world of confusion.

"Tenten, your presence is required by the Hyuuga Council at the clan compound," Neji stated formally.

**XXXXXX**

Naruto had hit another mental block. While this did not seem like much of an emergency, he was getting more and more frustrated with himself. He'd been trying to figure out a way to tell Hinata-chan about his feelings and the fact that he couldn't get her out of his head no matter how hard he tried…come to think of it, he really shouldn't put it that way when he eventually got to talk to her.

Truth was his mind kept wandering every time he tried to think of a way to talk to her. It would start slowly with thoughts of her hair, her smell, her determination, memories of when she'd encouraged him, supported him, fought for him…it was all getting rather aggravating – not to mention embarrassing; he'd stopped counting how many times someone looked at him strangely because his face was flushed and he was sighing dazedly to himself.

He'd had crushes before but this was in a league of its own. It had developed so fast and before he'd realized it, he had Hinata-chan on his brain, _all_ the time. Naruto couldn't be blamed though, she was just too cute, what with her constant rosy cheeks that made it look like she was blushing all the time – hopefully she was and maybe because of him? – her deep black hair that had tinges of violet in it, those bottomless lilac eyes that were filled with…ah! There was just no end to all of this.

He tried to stay focused not noticing that he was subconsciously heading into the general direction of the Hyuuga compound and when he finally reached the gates, he glanced up at them not really surprised that he'd ended up there…but had the gates always been so large and…intimidating?

Naruto didn't know much about the Hyuuga clan but he did know that even though their compound took up quite a sizeable area of Konoha, one did not just walk into it without invitation…it was their home after-all. Also, there was Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata's father…Naruto didn't quite think he could avoid the guy forever but still, he would do his best. The man seemed to walk around with the biggest stick up his butt. It wasn't that Naruto was afraid of the clan-head – alright, maybe just slightly intimidated and the fact the he was Hinata's father didn't help matters – but he'd much rather avoid him since he didn't know what to make of the stern man.

Hiashi had given Hinata a hard time when she was younger and it was also as a direct result of the rules he upheld that had made Neji such an ass – when he was younger of-course. Recently though, there were signs that things had taken a turn for the better but Naruto still didn't have enough information to judge the man.

Oh man, he'd diverted from his original thoughts, _again_.

"Uzumaki-san, you may enter."

"Huh?" Naruto glanced sideways only to see a guard he had not noticed before and it took him a while to process the invitation he'd just been given. He was not going to complain when he had been given free entrance into the compound with no questions asked, but still, it was strange.

He entered the compound though and was immediately astonished at what he saw. Yes, he'd been to palaces and noblemen's homes but this…this was _different_. The place was _huge_ with traditional buildings running in mazes and gardens in between them. The occasional water feature could be seen and yet this was just the front view. No wonder he never saw many Hyuuga training around, they must have several training grounds set up in their own home.

"Uzumaki-san, I shall guide you," a gentle, subdued voice spoke and he turned to face a demure woman about his age or older, sporting the classic white eyes and a green seal on her forehead.

Naruto felt his stomach turn uneasily at that. So he did the one thing he could do in these situations; he gave her an almost blinding smile. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I was looking for Hinata-chan."

The woman looked at him, surprise evident in her gaze. "Hinata-sama is in the meeting…that is where we will be headed."

The Council had sent out a request – though 'order' was more like it – to have Uzumaki Naruto attend one of the meetings…but it seemed he himself did not know about it; poor man; she almost felt sorry for him. Perhaps the guards had seen him approach before anyone could be sent to look for him and had thus just invited him into the compound without any explanation…that would explain his ignorance on the matter. He seemed like a nice young man, she hoped he would survive the meeting unscathed.

Naruto raised a brow at the look he was receiving. It was rather creepy, the way these people were glancing at him, like they knew something he didn't; it almost seemed as if the'd known he was coming, but how…oh right, the _byakugan_.

He followed her silently and soon lost count of how many turns and corridors they had passed through. How did one not get lost in this place? Also the whole white-eyed thing everywhere he turned was starting to creep him out just the tiniest bit. They soon reached a pair of doors painted with water scenery. The woman bowed to him and left, making him wonder whether he was supposed to just enter the doors or knock…how did one knock on these type of doors anyway?

"Uzumaki Naruto-san, you may enter"

_This was it_.

Suppressing his startle reflex, he slid the doors aside, his stomach doing a funny little dance, and came upon the scene of 7 pairs of white eyes staring blankly at him, Hiashi Hyuuga's being at the center. Three people's backs were to him; Hinata's he recognized immediately and his heart fluttered strangely, Neji's and those hair-buns…_Tenten_?

"Um, hi?" It was lame, but in his defence, he had not been thinking straight for the past couple of hours.

"Step forward Uzumaki-san and have a seat. We've been expecting you and we have much to discuss," Hiashi said formally.

Naruto fought the urge to gulp; somehow, he knew this did not bode well for him.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N:**I should be studying for my pathology test at the end of this month but I'm sparing some time to thank all my reviewers, story-alert_ers_, favorite_rs_ and hidden readers. Y'all just make me wanna dance…I won't do it in public though, worry not. Now, back to reading before the test catches up with me in a few days' time. (^_^)


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N**: Words alone cannot express the remorse I feel at what I have done to you my dear readers. It would be a miracle if anyone still remembered this story. Third year med school wasn't easy and I was just too busy trying to attend to patients while keeping up with my other classes to even _think_ about writing any fiction. On a happier note though, summer is finally here and I should finish this by October, so please bear with me. And thank you, you magnificent reviewers *cue endless flying kisses*

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Naruto or any related characters and plotline – or lack thereof – it all belongs to the guy living in my basement…no, seriously, ask him. Go ahead.

**MU BYONNA**

_Chapter 15_

…**even during constant demands.**

Sarutobi Konohamaru walked under the canopy of one of Konoha's numerous forests, muttering to himself excitedly. The technique Naruto nii-chan had been teaching him was unique and he couldn't wait to show how good he'd gotten at using it though he'd shifted it to suit his fighting style. It was _perfect_ and Konohamaru could clearly see himself grabbing the Hokage's seat with this one. Boy was Naruto nii-chan gonna be surprised.

"Would you keep it down? That incessant mumbling is interrupting my meditation."

Konohamaru stopped, more startled than offended; he had been pretty sure no one would be in his favorite spot today. Uchiha Sasuke was the only other person he'd ever found there and that had only been once – the awkwardness that ensued after he'd heard what Sasuke had been talking to himself about was enough to make him never want to see the former avenger again and he was sure the feeling was mutual. Having overheard that Sasuke was in the hospital though, he'd thought the spot would be free but evidently he'd been wrong. At sixteen and chuunin, hot on his way to becoming jounin, there was pretty much nothing he thought he couldn't handle, but the figure seated in the exact spot he favored for training was going to be challenging to deal with.

"What's with you Hyuuga and forests, do you have an inborn affinity to them?" Politeness was wasted on this particular Hyuuga.

Konohamaru just received a white eyed glare in return, but he'd long since been immune to any fear the Hyuuga evil-eye was meant to incite having been on its receiving end several times.

"Or are you running away from home…_again_," he finished, glaring at the figure before him in turn.

"That was underhanded Konohamaru."

He sighed. It was extremely unfair for anyone to expect him to know how to deal with, in his opinion, one of the most impossible Hyuuga ever to be born: Hanabi Hyuuga! He could never know what she was going to say next; one minute she was hot and the next cold. It baffled him to no end. He remembered meeting her a total of five times – how could he forget – in that exact spot when he was just ten years old and she nine. She had been as aloof as any Hyuuga but that had done nothing for the tears that kept collecting until her cheeks bore twin never ending streams. At that time, he'd thought she looked so regal and…and _beautiful_ but yet so sad. He hadn't known what to do, so he'd just pretended she wasn't crying and talked to her like he would any normal girl.

After the first few exchanges of words – which were harsh from her end – she'd told him she just wanted to take a walk in the forest. Konohamaru had known straight away it was a lie; Hyuuga, especially young main-branch Hyuuga, did not _just_ take walks outside the compound unaccompanied. But he'd kept quiet, silently accepting her excuse and just started his own private training as she sat and watched. Over their second meeting, she'd corrected his stance once or twice and told him that he would make a miserable excuse for a ninja. He'd disagreed and they'd parted ways, each incensed from the intense argument that had occurred. He'd apologized a month later on their third meeting but she'd told him that she never argued with anyone whose opinion she valued and he'd told her there was a first time for everything.

Their fourth meeting was brief and he'd remember that as the first time he ever fought with a girl. She'd wanted to leave, _escape_ from the village, muttering things about her family and excessive pressure. The argument that had ensued led to a physical fight which he didn't remember much of except for the fact that she'd beaten him to a pulp and proved she was stronger, hands down. Their last meeting had occurred 3 months later when she'd told him that the academy he went to taught absolute nonsense and her Hyuuga teachers were the best but perhaps not all the students were imbeciles. She'd smiled, _truly_ smiled at him then and though he'd originally felt sorry for her having to literally run away from home in order to gain some freedom, her smile had shown him a glimpse of the real Hanabi Hyuuga and he found he didn't pity that one at all.

He hadn't seen her since then but there she was looking for the entire world like she owned the forest and of all the feelings he was experiencing, the most prominent one was irritation.

"What do you want Hanabi?"

"Excuse me?" she asked indignantly.

"What are you doing here?"

Hanabi glanced at him, seeming surprised at his genuine irritation before replying. "That's none of your concern Konohamaru-kun."

"It _is_ my concern. This is my personal training spot after-all and you know that."

"This place belongs to me as much as to you _Sarutobi-san_ and you may train as much as you please, I shall not disturb you."

Konohamaru stared at her, trying to figure out what she wanted – after all those years – but could think of nothing. It didn't help that she seemed to have the whole emotionless-Hyuuga-face thing down to a T and was looking at him, eyebrows raised as if she thought he was an idiot. She had to be there for some reason though…she can't have simply _just_ left the Hyuuga compound _again_…argh!

He didn't have time to waste exchanging 'niceties' with the one girl whose memory caused him more embarrassment than any other. He still hadn't gotten over that particular beat-down and it had been a pain trying to forge reasons for his injuries to his parents. He felt his face flush and though her facial expression didn't change, he could almost swear he'd seen her smirk.

"Fine, stay here. I need to look for Naruto nii-chan anyway." He turned around; ready to jump into the branches above but her next words sparked a curiosity in him that made him stop.

"That hyperactive blond? He should have just stayed at home."

"You know where he is?" Konohamaru asked in surprise. It was a wonder the girl could remember who Naruto was let alone find her way across the village to the forest unsupervised. Yes, Naruto nii-chan was a hero to Konoha but that had been several years back and the Hyuuga _never_ gave a hint as to whether they followed current events or not. It was easy to assume they ignored all that went on around them and Hanabi was the worst of them, being cooped up in their estate at all times, except when on missions. How could she not have bothered to even pass by and say 'hello' in the past six years?

"He's in a meeting with the council," she stated, seemingly bored with the topic already.

"The village Council?" Konohamaru exclaimed in shock. There could be no way they were making him Hokage already!

Hanabi gave him a look similar to the one he'd seen Neji-san give to Lee-kun on many occasions. This alone made his cheeks color slightly in more embarrassment.

"The _Hyuuga_ council. His presence was requested along with Tenten-san's. It's a rare occurrence for any outsider to attend the council meetings so word must have spread to the whole village by now; it's surprising you didn't know this"

"Do you know what it's about?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

"I do not reveal the goings on of the Hyuuga to outsiders," she replied icily.

Konohamaru sighed again; there she was, once again jumping from hot to cold in an instant. It seemed she did not know why Naruto nii-chan had been summoned to the Compound however, judging from the vehemence of her reply. No one got that upset over such a simple question – not even the ever arrogant Hyuuga – so she was probably annoyed that she wasn't told either.

"Am guessing it's not a good thing though," he stated.

She didn't say anything, just looked away from him and he didn't quite know what to make of that. But Naruto nii-chan could take care of himself even though the Hyuuga were known for being a tad extreme over particular matters…

"Naruto nii-san can take care of himself."

"You'd better hope he can, for his own good. He had better not be like you."

He opened his mouth to retort but thought better of it, he wouldn't play her game.

"So what are you really doing here anyway Hanabi; it had better not be that you missed me and came here to have me comfort you again."

He'd said that hoping to catch her off guard but the resulting glare he received instead was as cold as they got and he had half a mind to get as far as possible from her before he received another beating, but her answer stopped him in his tracks again.

"Even if I did, the extent to which you are-"

"Wait…so you _did_ miss me?" he asked in mild shock and no small amusement.

"I said no such thing!"

"You didn't deny it either. Who would have guessed that Miss Hanabi Hyuuga has a crush on me?"

"…"

Later that day, as he nursed his dark swollen eye, Konohamaru reflected that _that_ probably hadn't been the wisest thing to say to her…but it had been worth it to see her reaction. It seemed Hinata-san was not the only Hyuuga who turned that particular shade of red on _special_ occasions. _This was going to be fun_!

**XXXXXX**

"Tell me it's not true; tell me it's just a pointless rumor."

"I'm afraid I cannot say that Tsunade-sama. It has been confirmed true," Shizune replied, rather surprised at the way the news had been received. "But perhaps it's not as it seems."

Tsunade in turn glared at Shizune till she took a step back as precaution lest the Sannin's fist swung out suddenly in anger.

"It _is_ as it seems Shizune. Those overgrown Hyuuga can't have summoned Tenten and that brat there for any other reason."

"For Tenten-san's case I can understand but Naruto-kun has never really shown any interest in Hinata-san, so why would they-"

"Hinata is at a marriageable age and it would not do to have her pining for some other ninja while they try to give her away to the highest bidder in the Fire Country, so they are probably trying to settle matters as soon as they can," Tsunade replied even as she took a large gulp from a previously hidden _sake_ bottle.

Trying very hard to ignore the _sake_, Shizune asked her next question; "I still don't understand what is so bad about this whole situation. Hinata-san will probably never get Naruto-kun's attention in _that_ way and it would be best if she forgot about…_hey_, are you listening to me?"

Tsunade was busy gulping down the entire _sake_ bottle non-stop and when she was done, she reached for another one without a pause. Shizune felt her eyebrow start to twitch.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Shizune. That brat has been showing an unnecessary amount of concern over that Hyuuga girl…it could be just another crush but…it _can't_ be. You should have seen his reaction when he found out she had been captured," Tsunade said between sips of alcohol.

"Even so Tsunade-sama, as the Hokage, you cannot interfere in clan matters."

There was a long pause after which Tsunade replied; "Yes, as the Hokage I cannot interfere. But still, that kid deserves to be happy at the very least."

A heavy sigh escaped her and she struck the table with her fist, sending a few of the piles of paper tumbling.

"Those bastards! Why did they have to pull such a stunt now; am in the middle of negotiations with the Raikage who's trying to convince me that he had nothing to do with the capture of both Hinata and Tenten," Tsunade practically growled.

Shizune looked up from the papers she'd been picking up. "What? But the mastermind of the whole thing said-"

"I know what he said Shizune; Ibiki informed me," Tsunade cut the other woman off irritably. "But just because he said he was doing it _for_ the Raikage doesn't mean the old idiot actually gave him an order to do it. Ibiki's tried harder but the guy just keeps ranting on and on about how the Raikage would have rewarded him, and the others know almost nothing about the reasons why; seriously…"

"There's little to do at this point though, except wait for Raikage-sama's response."

"I know…I know," Tsunade sighed, staring straight ahead as she tried to figure a way out of the ever growing mess and the _sake_ bottle stood forgotten on the floor.

**XXXXXX**

Tenten sat staring straight ahead, avoiding looking into any particular eyes of the elderly Hyuuga before her. She knelt in the traditional position as did the Hyuuga elders before her; all _seven_ of them. Seven pairs of white eyes set in seven hard-set faces, all looking at her like she was the filth of the earth. Or perhaps she was imagining it all; how was it possible for an emotionless face to look so condescending?

She was in a large well-lit room with wooden floors and an entire wall made of paper doors having the most exquisite water scenery she'd ever seen painted on them. This however was all noted in passing as the council seated in front of her held her utmost attention. The Hyuuga – five male, two female – were seated facing her at the forefront, about five feet from her position and…was that _Hiashi-san_? Tenten stared in surprise at the Clan-head seated centrally as he looked at her like he'd never really seen her before.

Neji and Hinata were seated three paces behind her and from the looks of things, they were not allowed to say a single word at all. It was probably just an intimidating tactic to make her feel isolated and choice-less but it was working. Beneath the cold stare of fourteen eyes and surrounded by a thick silence, Tenten felt like running out of there as fast as she possibly could. So _this_ was the Hyuuga council of elders huh; well they left an impressive picture. But with all this running through her head, she couldn't figure out why she was there in the first place; she had a vague idea but it…

"Uzumaki Naruto-san, you may enter"

Tenten almost flinched when the words pierced the silence, effectively halting her thoughts but her taut muscles held her body in the same position; somehow she felt she was not supposed to turn around and look at the doors behind her. She heard a door slide aside and from the sound of it, someone had entered the room, but _Naruto_? Why him?

"Um, hi?"

Tenten winced at that; it _was_ Naruto – few people could be _that_ tactless – but what he was doing there, she didn't know. Heck, she didn't even know what _she_ was doing there. Neji had not uttered a single word of explanation to her on their way over and she'd given up trying to coax anything out of him.

"Step forward Uzumaki-san and have a seat. We've been expecting you and we have much to discuss."

She glanced up at Hiashi-san and peripherally noticed Naruto walk slowly and sit on a mat placed at the same level as she was; between the council and Hinata and Neji.

"I now call this council meeting to order," Hiashi stated. "Tenten-san and Uzumaki-san, I'm sure you realize why you're here."

Tenten really did flinch having not expected to be addressed so suddenly. How did they expect her to know why she was there when no one had mentioned a word to her.

"I-I was not informed of the purpose of this meeting." Damn that stutter.

Hiashi turned his eyes onto Naruto who flinched visibly as well and shook his head – far too vigorously – to indicate the negative. Tenten fought the urge to wince at that and could easily understand the blonde's nervousness. It wasn't just the numerous white eyes that stared at them unceasingly, but if her hunch was right, then Naruto probably was not ready to face Hiashi-san in such a manner and was probably even more intimidated than she was. This was not to say that _she_ liked being there…the meeting was probably going to head in a direction she'd been trying to avoid even pondering on for the whole year.

"The council wishes to question you both on your increasingly…_questionable_…interactions with our future house heads." It was a woman who had spoken this time; about sixty years old, seated tall and elegantly with the same emotionless face as the rest and a flat voice to complete the image.

"Y-you mean Hinata-chan and Neji?"

The council just stared at Naruto and Tenten really didn't want to be in his shoes right then. His eyes narrowed and his head tilted forward just the tiniest bit after a while with no response. Tenten wasn't the most adept at reading body language – not with all those Hyuuga there – but she was certain that meant the blonde was getting rather irritated. Then again, Naruto really had asked the most obvious of questions.

"What do you mean by 'questionable;' I haven't had any _questionable_ interactions with Hinata-chan, let alone Neji." Naruto had mumbled the last bit but Tenten found herself fighting back a nervous giggle and by the looks of it, some of the council member had found it amusing, though others seemed even more annoyed but the comment.

"Uzumaki-san, do you have any intentions of courting Hinata?" Another man had spoken this time, his voice rather high and irritating but with a gaze more piercing than any she'd ever seen. Apparently he didn't want to waste any time and had gotten straight to the shocking question.

"W-what?"

"Do you have any romantic sentiments towards Hinata with the intention of courting her?"

Tenten decided she did not like this particular elder. He was smirking in satisfaction, clearly enjoying Naruto's discomfort. She frowned at that, then his eyes turned to hers and his smirk grew even wider…she really had a bad feeling about all this.

The elder's question was met with a long silence in which Naruto's face just kept getting redder with each passing moment, then:

"W-well…I, I," Naruto stuttered, apparently at a complete loss of words. "What if I d-do…will you give us your consent?"

Tenten heard a soft gasp from behind that was most certainly from Hinata even as she noticed that Hiashi's eyebrows moved slightly in a small frown and the rest of the council's lips became thinner.

"You are a commendable ninja Uzumaki-san but Hinata will not marry a _ninja_; that has already been decided by this council," another of the elders spoke up.

Naruto gaped at them for a moment, his mouth opening and closing a couple of times with no words coming out. Tenten didn't blame him, at their age, few were thinking of marriage – especially the males – and it was a little unfair for the council to even mention it, knowing it would make him uncomfortable.

"What? Wh-who said anything about marriage…I…I…shouldn't it be Hinata's choice in the first place anyway?" Naruto spoke, his sentences faltering; a fact that seemed to please some and irritate others.

"The Hyuuga do _not_ get romantically entangled with one who will not be a spouse and Hinata may _choose_ from any civilian of the Fire Country who pleases her before she is to be declared clan-head, though it's none of your business Uzumaki-san," the female spoke again.

"You cannot do that and it _is_ my business!" Naruto almost shouted before he took a moment to calm himself. "What if I go ahead and…_court_ her anyway?" he asked, his blue eyes flashing.

"If you care for her as you _claim_ you do, then you shall do no such thing for the consequences will be dire-" the woman had started to say before she paused.

"Uzumaki-san, you are aware that Hinata has had an interest in you for a while now; why do you choose to step forward now? If your feelings are so fickle that they arise in a matter of days, then worry not for it will take just a couple more for them to dwindle and completely disappear," Hiashi spoke up, his tone hard and unforgiving.

Tenten turned to look at Naruto, his head bowed as if in shame and his fist clenched and shaking. What Hiashi-san had just said was harsh and she wondered how Hinata must have been feeling at that moment. She felt sorry for him and tried to speak up in defense of him.

"With all due respect Hiashi-san, Naruto is not the type to-" Tenten began to say before she was cut off by the councilman who had been smirking earlier.

"Your situation is not much different Tenten-san. We are well aware that you and Neji have been intimate without the council's acquiescence."

Seven pairs of white eyes turned their gaze on her with such intensity that she flinched. The guns were now aimed at her and she suddenly felt like fleeing again

"I was not a-aware the council's agreement was required," she responded, a slight blush on her face which was partially due to her stutter.

"It is not for a commoner to know of the inner workings of the Hyuuga but caution and _basic logic_ would have been enough to perceive such a thing," the elder spoke.

Tenten stared in surprise at the blatant insult; if his aim was to irritate her, then he was starting to succeeding but before she could retort, Naruto cut her off.

"You're really rude, you know that?"

"Uzumaki-san, it would be wise for you to not interfere in the matters that involve Tenten-san and do keep your opinions to yourself. It is a well-known fact that you speak and act before you think but refrain from doing so here; your thoughts are not held in high regard." The second female elder had finally decided to speak up.

"She is my friend! I can't just sit here while you…you insult her," Naruto finished off feebly.

"If you feel so strongly for her, then perhaps you should aim your romantic intentions in her direction and save us all this meeting," another elder responded, though he looked more bored than anything else.

"Esteemed council members, what is it that you wish to inform me of," Tenten spoke up ultimately stopping Naruto's counter. She wasn't sure though that that had been such a bright idea for a few of the councilmen's eyes were now narrowed in annoyance. She took a deep breath to steady herself and keep her courage.

"Very well Tenten-san, you will cease this idiocy you've been engaging in with Neji and not interact with him outside missions. You shall find yourself a new training partner and refrain from indulging in any intimate activity with him for he shall soon have a spouse and _you_ will not."

Tenten stared at the man who'd just spoken; it was the first time he'd voiced his opinion and she was certain she did not like this one at all. But it was not the time to ponder such things and she had to speak up…even though she _really_ didn't want to.

"This will be going against Hyuuga tradition though, will it not?" She was gambling she knew but this was the only trick she had in her box. It was ridiculous having to defend her relationship with Neji in the direction of marriage when he had never even hinted at such a thing.

Yes, she did want to marry him but even that though, had always been much further down the road. Now the Hyuuga council was demanding that she leave the relationship altogether but what was she supposed to do, say 'yes?' She wasn't even sure Neji liked her enough to…no, that was the wrong direction for her thoughts to go in. He had proven it over and over again that he loved – yes _loved_ – her enough to fight for her…so she would fight for him.

"Speak clearly child," Hiashi-san said and she had to raise her eyebrows at this…'_child_?'

"Esteemed elder, you'd said that Hyuuga do not get romantically involved with those who they will not wed. Neji and I are already romantically involved, so would it not be traditional to let us marry?" Tenten asked while looking straight at the lady who had said it, though she was fighting a losing battle with her quickly reddening cheeks.

She could have sworn she saw Hiashi-san smirk but was distracted at the genuine smile on the face of the female elder she'd been addressing.

"It seems you have a good head on your shoulders child."

"Nevertheless," spoke the elder who'd looked bored before. "Hyuuga tradition is only applied to those as noble. If an ant died on your beautiful kimono, staining it in the process, you would not throw the cloth away for such an insignificant creature. You would simply just wash the stain off."

"You know, it's ironic that all my life I've wanted a family. It was tough growing up without any parental guidance, but I'm grateful for that now, because who knows what I'd have done if I'd grown up with people like you. Hinata-chan and Neji are must be really strong to have put up with this all their lives," Naruto spoke up, his voice oddly husky as if he was containing a lot of anger.

"Your judgment on what we expect of our clan members is irrelevant to us; after all, high quality is something we don't expect you to understand Uzumaki-san."

"That's not fair-" Tenten started before she was cut short.

"And you Tenten-san, why is it that you insist on marrying Neji. You who has no clan, no venerable lineage and not even a last name. Why do you insist on this? Did your intimacy with Neji go too far?"

There was a collective stiffening of everyone in the room and Tenten found herself staring at the man in surprise…why couldn't he have just remained bored?

"Hirihito-sama, perhaps this is going too far," one of the males whispered.

"Hardly," Hirohito spoke in a hard tone. "Anyone with the byakugan can see that you're no longer a virgin Tenten-san and as such you know you are not of much use to any man. Is that why you have insisted on Neji? How certain can we be that it was even him who-"

"Enough!"

It wasn't shouted or even spoken loudly, but the anger in the voices was enough to stop even Hirohito, if only for a moment.

"Hinata, you have no right to interrupt this meeting and Neji, sit back down. This meeting is not yet over and both of you need to keep your emotions in check," Hirohito said.

"Forgive my intrusion honorable council, but I believe that is quite enough," Neji said, his eyes narrowed and his voice flat. This was the most pissed off she'd seen him recently and it worried her…he shouldn't have to disobey his family for her.

"Your opinion is not required on this matter Neji and we _will_ continue this meeting with or without you here," one of the elders said.

"N-no, this meeting has to stop. We understand your stand on this…but…but I will stay with Naruto-kun no matter what y-you say."

Tenten stared at Hinata in shock and almost applauded when she came back to her senses. Wow..._wow_! That had been incredible! Naruto thought so too by the looks of it and so did Hiashi-san and even Neji who looked a little less incensed. The rest of the Hyuuga looked taken aback but only slightly so as they stared at Hinata's determined but slowly reddening face.

"I agree with Hinata-sama. I've already chosen my bride and it will be Tenten, regardless of the council's decision. She is not inferior to anyone; in fact, she is more skilled and loyal than some clan members."

"Insolence!"

"Preposterous!"

"Surely you cannot believe that _we_ will allow this…this ludicrousness no go on"

Tenten stared wordlessly, trying to forget the stabbing pain she'd felt at the reminder of her rape and the sinking feeling there after knowing it would be hindrance for both her and Neji. At the same time though, she was repeatedly trying to stop her face from reddening any further at what Neji had just said…he'd called her his _bride_!

"That's it! I've had enough!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto-kun…"

"Agreed," Neji said as he walked towards Tenten and reached for her arm. "We are leaving. Excuse us honorable council," he said with a slight bow.

"Such impertinence!" exclaimed one of the elders and Tenten watched in horror as he made a sign with his right hand. She knew _that_ sign…it was the one to activate the Hyuuga curse-seal!

"Neji!"

"Nii-san!"

"No!" Hiashi-san practically shouted as he reached to grab the elder's hand. "That is forbidden in the council-room!"

Tenten had never really understood why Neji would occasionally keep his distance from the man but at that moment, she could begin to understand. Hiashi-san had fierce look and his eyes gleamed with promises of death for anyone who dared cross him at that moment. She turned to look at Neji and noted his look of surprise with concern. It must be unnerving for him to see someone almost activate the curse-seal on him.

"Agreed, this meeting has gone on long enough. We have heard your opinions but are you willing to face the consequences of them knowing very well what they will be?" one of the councilwomen questioned Neji and Hinata?

They in turn just stared at her determinedly, nodding once in affirmation.

Hiashi-san sighed deeply and everyone turned to look at him in surprise.

"Very well," he said after a pause. "We chose you both as future house heads not just because of your strength and position in the clan but also because of your insight and knowledge; so we trust your decisions and as such…you may marry whomever you choose."

"Impossible!"

"This is an outrage!"

"SILENCE!" one of the older looking members of the council exclaimed. "Go ahead son."

Tenten stared in shock and from the silence in the room, everyone else was too. Hiashi-san had just stated that she could marry Neji…but if it was that simple a decision to make, then why was the council meeting called in the first place and what about the announcement that Neji would marry one of his distant cousins?

"This meeting was called to re-evaluate the choices made by this council as regards to the spouses of the future house heads."

"Wh-why were these choices made in the first place then?"

Hiashi glanced at his daughter before answering her question.

"Some, not all the council members felt the previous decisions were the best for the clan." At this, Tenten saw Hirohito and a couple of others frown. "As clan-head however, I retain the right to make the final decision."

"What makes you think so?" Hirohito growled.

"It is written in some of the older clan rules Hirohito-sama, perhaps you should reacquaint yourself with them," another of the councilwomen spoke.

"My decision is final; however, there are traditions that will still remain. Even though both of you may marry whomever you wish, you must do so before you're inaugurated as house heads," Hiashi-san said, his voice silencing any protests.

Tenten was still in a daze and couldn't think straight.

"Hinata, your inauguration is in four months and Neji, yours shall be six months later. Do not forget that. Dismissed!"

Naruto on the other hand looked like he'd just been punched in the gut. No one could blame him though, he had just started to like the idea of dating Hinata but now he was being told to marry her within four months else she had to choose someone else…what the _hell_?

**XXXXXX**

**A/N:** whooo, that took _forever_! I don't know how all these other authors write 30 pages in two days. Maybe it's because I am out of practice or perhaps they are just geniuses…either way, it's not easy, that I can tell you. Alright, now I can sleep peacefully knowing I submitted _something_ – not a great 'something' I know but a something nevertheless – at the very least. Do **review** and tell me how you liked it though. (^_^)


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